Assam: Worker killed in 116-ft crane fall at SLHEP Gerukamukh

North Lakhimpur: One worker lost his life when the crane he was working on fell from a height of 116 feet at the nearly completed 2000 MW Subansiri Lower Hydro-electrical Power (SLHEP) dam at Gerukamukh, located on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh inter-state boundary.

The incident occurred late Monday afternoon when the 116-foot-high crane crashed to the ground, breaking into pieces and killing the lone worker aboard.

The victim has been identified as Manoj Sonowal (26) from Salakhbari in Gogamukh.

Panic spread at the accident site, prompting authorities to expedite the rescue operation. After about an hour of searching, rescuers recovered the victim's body, buried under a pile of earth at the site.

This incident marks the second fatality of its kind in less than a year.

On May 27, 2024, a worker, Putul Gogoi from Gogamukh, was killed when a boulder, falling from an elevation of around 100 meters on the left bank hill, struck him while he was working on pile cap reinforcement for concreting upstream of the dam axis.

Earlier, on October 28, 2023, a worker from Arunachal Pradesh was killed by a landslide inside a diversion tunnel at the Gerukamukh dam site.

Similarly, on November 2, 2022, a worker, Ashok Sadha (42) from Musahar, Nepal, was killed while performing shuttering work at Block 7 of the main dam at SLHEP, Gerukamukh.

On June 6, 2022, the roof of Intact Tunnel No. 2 at SLHEP suddenly collapsed, killing one worker, Jitu Hatibarua, and injuring others.

The latest tragedy raises concerns about safety standards at the high-rise working conditions at SLHEP-Gerukamukh, which is being constructed by the PSU National Hydro-electrical Power Corporation (NHPC).

The 2000 MW megastructure is nearing completion in May this year and is expected to be fully operational by 2026.