Delhi Water Minister Rajendra Gautam has ordered a vigilance committee to look into sewer deaths in the city. The move comes after two brothers died of a similar incident in Anand Vihar on Saturday. The duo had inhaled toxic gases while cleaning a sewer at a shopping mall.
Meanwhile, Nupur Prasad, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Shahdara district said, “Post-mortem examination of the two victims has been conducted. We are waiting for Yusuf to give his statement. Apart from that, we have asked the mall management to submit their papers. No arrests has been made so far.”
Their father and a firefighter, who was involved in the rescue operation, also inhaled the toxic gas and have been admitted to the hospital in a critical condition, police said.
“I am making a vigilance committee to monitor such illegal activities. I am shocked to see the courage of these contractors. They do not fear the law. Though we have no control on private buildings, we will take stern action against violators," the water minister said in a series of tweets.
Yusuf (50) and his two sons; Jahangir (24) and Izaz (22) had collapsed while cleaning the sewer, police said. As they did not come out of it for a long time, the police and fire department were informed.
One of the firemen, Mahipal, who had entered the sewer, also inhaled the toxic fumes and collapsed, they said. All the four were rushed to the Hedgewar Hospital, where Jahangir was declared "brought dead" and Izaz died subsequently, the DCP said.
It may be recalled that three men who were manually cleaning a sewer line at lajpat Nagar had died after inhaling noxious fumes. The incident was reported three weeks after the death of four men while cleaning a septic tank in south Delhi's Ghitorni. In both the cases, the victims were working for private contractors. Delhi Police have failed to make any headway in the probe and the accused contractor Delhi Jal Board (DJB) who had hired sanitation workers, is still on the run.