Kerala Labour Minister V Sivankutty expressed deep sorrow over the death of a worker and directed an investigation. The family of the deceased worker will be provided compensation under the Employees' Compensation Act.
Pathanamthitta: One worker has died and another worker is reported missing after a massive rockfall at a quarry in Payyanamon near Konni, Pathanamthitta district on Monday. The search for the missing worker is ongoing. Two workers, one from Odisha and the other from Bihar, were operating an excavator when a huge rock fell on top of it on Monday. The Fire Force and NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) resumed search operations on Tuesday morning. By the end of Monday, the search operations were stopped owing to adverse weather conditions and another rockfall.
According to reports, the incident happened when the workers, Mahadev and Ajay Rai, returned to work in the quarry after lunch break. A 27-member team from NDRF led by Commander Sanjay Singh Malsuni reached the site on Monday from Thiruvalla for the rescue mission. District Collector S Krishnan reportedly said that manual operations had to be halted due to continuous rockfall and will rely on machines. We will get a 30-tonne capacity crane and a big Hitachi machine to remove the rocks," he added.
Minister takes stock of situation
Labour Minister V Sivankutty expressed deep sorrow over the death of a worker. In a statement, the minister said that the search for the missing person is ongoing. Additional Labour Commissioner K Sreelal has been instructed to investigate the incident and submit a report. The family of the deceased worker will be provided compensation under the Employees' Compensation Act. The Labour Department will also take steps to repatriate the body.
