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Prayagraj: “Hamare yahan koi media wala nahi aaya… ghar pe bhi koi recording nahi hui (neither did anyone from the media come to our place, nor did they record any interview),” said Ram Moorat, a resident of Chilla village in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh.

Moorat’s 22-year-old nephew, Lokendra Nishad, is among six victims whose body was recovered after an under-construction bridge on Betwa river in Uttar Pradesh’s Hamirpur district had collapsed on May 29. 

Hamirpur Superintendent of Police, Mrigank Shekhar at the bridge collapse site. Photo by arrangement.

Lokendra had joined the site a few days ago as a construction worker. He had been working as a daily wage labourer for the last five years with regular work-related opportunities being offered more lately through projects led by the Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation. 

“Mudda uthna chahiye (the issue needs to be raised),” Moorat added, while talking to The Wire on phone, a day after the incident.

The issue referred to by Moorat includes a range of allegations by family members of the victims related to work conditions such as construction labourers on night shift being told to continue working despite National Disaster Management Authority’s (NDMA’s) warnings related to a storm across the state and a delay in rescue operations after the incident came to light. 

File photo of 22-year-old Lokendra Nishad who had joined the site a few days ago as a construction worker. Photo by arrangement.

Among those who lost their lives as a result of the bridge collapse in the intervening night of May 28-29 were – Kuldeep Nishad (resident of Chilla village in Banda), Lokendra Nishad (resident of Chilla village in Banda), Sawant Yadav alias Gangacharan Yadav (resident of Bhuragarh village in Banda), Sabhajeet Yadav (resident of Bhuragarh village in Banda), Pushpendra Singh Chauhan (resident of Swasa Khurd village in Hamirpur) and Rajesh Pal (resident of Acchpura village in Hamirpur). 

The Wire spoke with the families of three victims in Banda and Hamirpur to piece together the chain of events as to what happened after one of the pillars of the bridge collapsed during the shuttering work. 

Shuttering or formwork refers to building a temporary enclosure using iron rods and wooden poles into........

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