Kozhikode: Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL), the concessionaire for the Nileshwar-Taliparamba stretch of NH66, has paid ₹16,97,850 as compensation to the family of 18-year-old Motaleb Mir, who died in a landslide at the company's work site in Mattalayi, near Cheruvathur, in May.

The amount was decided by the Employees' Compensation Commissioner in Kozhikode. "We have deposited the compensation amount into the account of the commissioner, who will disburse the amount to the worker's legal heirs," said an official of the company on Tuesday. MEIL had earlier released ₹5,15,000 to the family as emergency assistance for post-death expenses, he said.

Motaleb Mir was the son of Morselim Mir and Masuda Bibi of South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. He was fixing shuttering plates for a retaining wall when a section of a hillock gave way on May 12, burying him completely. Two other workers, Mohan Thejar (18) and Munlal Laskar (55), also from West Bengal, were injured. Witnesses said the collapse occurred at the base of the hillock.

Residents had long warned that vertically sliced slopes along the Mattalayi and neighbouring Veeramala hills were unstable, especially during rains.

The district collector had inspected the sites and reached the same conclusion.

Motaleb's was the second accidental death on the two stretches being developed by MEIL from Cherkala to Taliparamba. Earlier, on June 29, 2022, labourer Manoj Tigga was killed in an accident at a work site in Palakunnu, Karivellur, in Kannur. The company paid ₹16,38,525 in compensation to his legal heirs, an official said.

Meanwhile, in June, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) debarred MEIL from bidding for new projects after a protection wall collapsed near Cherkala on the 37-km stretch between Chengala and Nileshwar, another project it is building in Kasaragod. NHAI is also considering a Rs 9 crore fine after finding that the "incident was caused due to improper design, inadequate slope protection works, and poor drainage system".