2 critical after girders fall from crane during Delhi-Doon e-way construction

Meerut: Two labourers are critical after five girders fell on them from a crane during construction work on the Delhi-Dehradun expressway in Balu Majra village under Badgaon police station limits in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district on Monday morning. Initially, three to four others were trapped under the debris before they were pulled out unhurt after nearly three hours of rescue operations. NHAI headquarters in New Delhi formed a committee of technical experts to visit the site, conduct a detailed investigation, and submit a report.
Officials said the incident occurred when the crane's string wire broke mid-operation, causing one girder and four already-launched girders to fall. Narendra Singh, project director at NHAI, said the flyover work was being done near the Deoband canal and that the construction materials had passed IIT-Roorkee's quality checks. He said, "This clearly indicates that the incident occurred due to the technical failure of the crane's string/wire and not due to any deficiency in the quality of the girders."
The district administration confirmed that two labourers, whose names were withheld, suffered injuries. Shweta Pandey, sub-divisional magistrate, said, "They were trapped under the debris and were rescued after considerable effort."
Singh said the flyover is being built as part of the Delhi-Dehradun economic corridor and that the canal closure had been approved from March 13 for 15 days to facilitate girder launching. He added, "Fortunately, the contractor had made proper arrangements for traffic diversion, so there was no loss of life."
In a post on social media, Saharanpur district magistrate Maneesh Bansal urged people not to spread misinformation about the project. "There is some incorrect information about the NHAI's Delhi-Dehradun economic corridor circulating on social media. Official information has been provided by the NHAI project director," he said.