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 which concrete material is allowed to solidify taking the shape of roof or wall. ‘What if such a bridge had been fully constructed’On May 29, around 5 am Moorat received news of the bridge collapse in Hamirpur’s Mora Kander village, a place around 260 kms away from his native village of Chilla in Banda. “One of the boys from our village, who was present on the construction site, after figuring that Lokesh is among those trapped in the rubble, called us,” said Moorat.Four hours later, at 9 am, when Moorat and Lokendra’s father, Radhey Shyam Nishad, reached Hamirpur they were initially stopped from going near the accident spot and then told to rush to the post mortem house. Also read: 25 Students Fall into Drain Outside Kanpur BEd Entrance Exam Centre, Four Hurt“The body could be extracted only in the morning”, Moorat told The Wire, when asked about how much time did it take for the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team to start the rescue operation after the bridge collapsed between 12.30 to 1 am on the morning of May 29.“Poori raat body dabi hui padi thi (the body lay buried under the rubble the entire entire night),” said Moorat.He questioned: “When a tragic incident like this has happened, what’s the point if the force comes so late?”Badloo Nishad, the sarpanch (or village head) of Mora Kander village was among the first responders to have reached the spot after the incident along with local police. “It took an hour for me along with the SO [Station Officer] of the nearest Lalpura police station to reach the spot at around 1:30 am since the road was in really bad condition. The rescue teams from Orai tehsil in Jaluan district and Kanpur came around 5-6 am,” Badloo Nishad told The Wire.Both Orai and Kanpur are approximately one-and-a-half hours away from Hamirpur at a distance of 83 km and 62 km, respectively. Badloo Nishad, brother of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Baburam Nishad who happens to be a Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh, defended the local police team along with the SDRF squad.“The rescue team initially focused on those who were still alive and stuck on top of a pillar and so this operation went on for three hours till 8 am after which cutter machines arrived in order to recover the bodies. Both the police as well as rescue teams have done a commendable job,” said Badloo Nishad. The victims’ kin, however, don’t seem to agree with this view.“There seems to be a huge blunder on the part of the Setu Nigam [UP State Bridge Corporation] and merits an investigation. Today this incident has happened, imagine if this bridge had been constructed, how many others would have died,” said Moorat. ‘Delay is but natural’: BJP MP Baburam NishadIn an FIR dated May 29, filed at Hamirpur’s Kurara police station, construction company M/s The Shelter along with proprietor Vijay Pratap Singh and project supervisor Nitish Sachan have been booked under Sections 106(1) and 125(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.While Section 106(1) of BNS is related to punishment for causing death by negligence, Section 125(a) pertains to any act that endangers human life or personal safety of others. The FIR, a copy of which has been seen by The Wire states, “In the intervening night of May 28-29 owing to a storm and high wind velocity, under-construction pillars, P-5 to P-6, have collapsed resulting in the death of six persons.”MP Baburam Nishad refuted claims of delay and suggested that delay is “natural” since “the incident happened at night”. Also read: Depending on Their Duration, Heatwaves May Be Causing 3,400 to 30,000 Excess Deaths Every Year in India: Study“There was no delay, the weather that night was really bad. You need to apply common sense that only after information is given by local administration and SHO that the SDRF team will respond. Given that the incident happened at night, a delay is but natural” said BJP MP Baburam Nishad, while talking to this reporter on phone.When asked whether the workers continuing with night shift, despite NDMA’s warning about storm, amounted to negligence the Rajya Sabha MP told The Wire, “This was a time-bound project and work used to be done in night shifts since the bridge had to be completed within a stipulated time. The responsibility and accountability, therefore, is that of the contractor.”Calls made to Hamirpur district magistrate, Abhishek Goyal, went unanswered. This reporter tried speaking with Superintendent of Police, Mrigank Shekhar, but was told that he’s busy in a meeting.Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath took to social media platform X extending condolences to the victims’ families. Dainik Bhaskar reported that the state government has announced an ex gratia amount of Rs 4 lakh per family of the deceased. ‘Bad quality material was being used’Thirty-six-year-old Pushpendra Singh had been working as a security guard on the bridge construction site since 2024.On the day of the incident, he had climbed atop a hydra crane, in order to save other workers, when the entire concrete material of the pillar fell on him. File photo of thirty-six-year-old Pushpendra Singh, who had been working as a security guard on the bridge construction site since 2024. Photo by arrangement.His younger brother, Ravendra Singh Chauhan, works at a private firm in Noida. “Bad quality material was being used in the construction. Have you ever heard that a bridge can collapse because of high speed wind and a storm?” Ravendra told The Wire.Even as a probe has been ordered by the state government, Ravendra still has questions about why workers on the site were not evacuated following a warning about an impending storm. “He [referring to Pushpendra] didn’t even have a proper security cabin unlike other guards”, said Ravendra. “All those responsible as far as the company is concerned seemed to have fled the spot. It was only security guards who got trapped in that mess. This is a massive fault on part of the company. If the rescue operations had started at night itself, maybe one or two more lives could have been saved,” he added. File photo of Gangacharan Yadav. Photo by arrangement.Thirty-year-old Gangacharan Yadav had joined the construction site two-three days before the incident.“He had wrapped up agricultural activity recently so he thought going there might help him to earn a few extra bucks,” said Deepak Yadav, a relative of Gangacharan. Gangacharan is survived by his parents and younger brother.Most of these workers, including security guards, used to get Rs 9,000-Rs 10,000 per month for a twelve-hour shift. “There are no other opportunities in this area,” Moorat told The Wire. “Mazdoori karne gaye tha, poora jeevan hi khatam ho gaya (he had gone there for the purpose of earning some money, his life only was cut short).”