The Delhi Government on Monday ordered a probe into the death of five labourers following inhalation of toxic gas while cleaning a sewer tank in west Delhi's Moti Nagar, and sought a report in three days. Labour Minister Gopal Rai directed the Labour Commissioner to submit a probe report within three days for ascertaining the further course of action.
A statement by Delhi's Labour Ministry said the incident took place on Sunday in DLF Green Apartments in Moti Nagar. "Minister of Labour has desired that a fact-finding inquiry is required to be conducted in the incident, so as to decide further course of action against defaulting agencies/firms by the government," Rai's Secretary Vivek Kumar Tripathi said in a written communication to the commissioner.
The incident took place at 3:30 pm on Sunday. The victims were rushed to a hospital, where they were declared brought dead by doctors, a senior police officer said.
On Sunday, around 3 p.m., the apartment staff informed the police that five labourers were trapped in a sewerage, Deputy Commissioner of Police Monika Bhardwaj had said.
They were pulled out and taken to the hospital where Sarfaraz, Pankaj, Raja and Umesh were declared brought dead. Vishal, who was admitted to the RML Hospital in a critical condition, died during treatment, the officer said.
Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan called the incident "shameful and inhuman".
"The LJP has been demanding for years an immediate ban on manual cleaning of sewer drains. For this, a law should be made immediately to provide for strict action and the guilty should be punished with imprisonment of at least 10 years," he said in a statement.