The unfortunate death of five men while cleaning a sewage plant in a residential complex in West Delhi on Sunday has once again raised the issue of their safety and security. The contractors, who blatantly flout laid down rules, sent these five poor men to clean the hazardous sewer tank without any safety gears and also tried to hush up their criminal folly.
Joint Commissioner of Police, (Western range) Madhup Tewari said that they have arrested one Ajay Chaudhary, employed as an engineer with JLL, the company tasked with services and faculty management inside DLF Phase-II, Moti Nagar. A case under sections 304A/304 of IPC , 7 & 9 of Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013, 3(1)(j) & 3(2)(v) of The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been registered and investigation is underway, said the Joint CP Madhup Tiwari. Further investigation to ascertain the role of others is underway, nobody will be spared, he added.
Family members of one of the five dead, alleged that the supervisor at the residential complex sent them to clean the sewage plant after he offered them extra money for doing the job.
The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon at the Phase 2 section of DLF Capital Greens residential complex in Moti Nagar. The deceased identified are Vishal, Sarfaraz, Pankaj, Raja and Umesh. Four of the victims were brought dead at the Acharya Bhikshu Hospital while the fifth Vishal who was critical was referred by doctors to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital where he died on Sunday night. Even fire and emergency services personnel who retrieved the men from the 30 meter deep tank fell ill soon after inhaling the toxic fumes.
Satya, sister of Vishal talking to The Pioneer said that Vishal's job responsibilities did not include cleaning the sewer tank. "He was lured by supervisor here who said him to pay extra money to do this sewerage plant cleaning job. There were no safety gears given to them," she alleged.
Some parts of the DLF Capital Greens residential complex are still undergoing construction due to which several labourers are working there. Another worker said that at the residential complex service firm is forcing housekeeping staff to perform other tasks than assigned one. "We were never told that one day we will have to clean sewage plants. If we oppose we are threatened by superiors not to come on work from tomorrow. We have no other option left as we have to feed our family," she said.
A spokesperson of DLF said that the company JLL was managing the faculty services at the complex. Whereas, JLL spokesperson said: "We are working closely with the companies that employed the deceased men to understand the events that led up to this incident and provide all assistance to families affected by this tragic incident. We have offered our cooperation to the authorities and government agencies as they investigate this tragic case and we are carrying out our own internal investigation too," said company spokesperson.
Meanwhile, police officers involved in the probe said that the death of five labourers was investigated from all possible angles. It is also being probed whether there was any negligence on part of the company involved in the maintenance, an official added.