At least nine workers have been killed after a huge heap of waste collapsed at a waste-to-energy plant on the outskirts of Pune city in India’s western state of Maharashtra. The accident happened when thousands of tonnes of waste from an adjacent landfill collapsed onto an administrative building because of heavy rain.
Antony Waste, the company that operates the plant, said in a statement on Monday that 23 workers had been trapped inside the building in last Wednesday’s incident. Because of incessant rain, the adjacent landfill became unstable and a huge quantity of waste from it collapsed onto the building. After a long rescue operation, nine bodies were recovered and another 14 people were rescued alive.
Heavy rain hampered the rescue work. Plant authorities said rescuers had faced great difficulty reaching those trapped beneath the debris. The plant’s operations have been temporarily suspended until structural and safety assessments are completed.
Building and construction accidents frequently occur in India during the monsoon season, from June to September each year. Prolonged heavy rain damages old and weak structures, increasing the risk of such accidents. Meanwhile, scientists have warned that extreme weather events in India are becoming more frequent and intense as a result of climate change, and weather forecasters fear that a possibly strong El Nino this year could bring significant changes to the country’s normal weather patterns.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report