Kolkata, Feb. 2 -- Within a few days of the Supreme Court ban on manual scavenging and sewer cleaning, three workers on Sunday died inside a manhole at Kolkata Leather Complex allegedly due to release of poisonous gas, leading the state government to announce compensation of Rs 10 lakh for each of their kins.
The bodies of the three labourers, later identified as Farzan Sheikh, Hasi Sheikh and Suman Sardar were retrieved from the manhole at the Bantala area by disaster management force and fire brigade after an hour-long search. They were allegedly cleaning chemical waste released from the tannery. According to police, under Kolkata Leather Complex Police Station, these labourers were engaged by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). The probable cause of death could be from drowning inside the pipe drain. However, the actual cause will be ascertained once the autopsy report comes in.
Firhad Hakim, KMDA chairman and state cabinet minister, visited the site. He told the media that a pipeline work was being executed by the KMDA but the project is of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) department. According to him, one of the labourers died probably due to release of poisonous gas from discharge of the tannery. The two others went in to save him leading to the deaths of all three. Police took their bodies to NRS Hospital.
He further said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has directed for paying compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of all three deceased. Hakim assured that a departmental enquiry will be set up alongside the police enquiry to determine why these labourers were sent down the manhole without first determining the conditions prevailing down there. Also, why they were not given any safety gear will be inquired into. "Action will be taken against one found responsible for lapses.
In future this shall not be repeated," he assured. The Supreme Court bench of Justices Sudhangshu Dhulia and Aravind Kumar on January 29 passed directions banning manual scavenging and sewer cleaning in six metropolitan cities: Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Competent authorities of all six metro cities were asked to file affidavits by February 13 on exactly when and how manual scavenging and sewer cleaning had ceased in their respective cities.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.