Contractor, Corporation officials booked for death of earthmover operator during demolition of arch

Madurai City Police have booked the contractor, Nallathambi, and Corporation officials for their negligence that led to the death of earthmover operator Nagalingam while demolishing a huge concrete arch at Mattuthavani here on Wednesday night.

Madurai City Police have booked the contractor, Nallathambi, and Corporation officials for their negligence that led to the death of earthmover operator Nagalingam while demolishing a huge concrete arch at Mattuthavani here on Wednesday night.

K. Pudur police have booked Nallathambi, who was also injured in the accident. The arch, constructed in 1985 during the 5th World Tamil Conference, was named after Tamil poet Nakkeerar.

When the arch was being demolished by two earthmovers around Wednesday midnight, a portion of the huge structure that came crashing down fell on one of the earthmovers, killing its operator Nagalingam on the spot.

The police have also booked unnamed Corporation officials for the negligence that led to the fatal accident.

The body of Nagalingam was handed over to the family members after a post-mortem was conducted at Government Rajaji Hospital on Thursday.

The civic body demolished the arch following directions from the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court.

On September 23, 2024, the High Court had directed the authorities to remove ‘Nakkeerar Thorana Vaayil’ and ‘Periyar Thorana Vaayil’ at K.K. Nagar in six months as they had been causing hindrance to free flow of traffic. The court had observed that it was open to the government to install bigger arches.