New Delhi: In yet another incident of lack of safety gear leading to fatal results for sanitation workers, two men lost their lives while cleaning a septic tank at an automobile company in Gurugram’s Narsingpur on Sunday.
The deaths are the latest in a series of similar incidents reflecting the unsafe conditions sanitation worker in the country are made to work in.
The deceased, 33-year-old Aslam from West Bengal and 35-year-old Shiv Kumar Bihar, were contractual workers. According to the Times of India, a third worker is currently in critical condition and undergoing treatment. A case is yet to be registered in the matter.
The incident took place around 4:30 pm at Sunbeam Auto Private Limited company when Aslam – who had replaced another person who was working inside the tank – started feeling dizzy while working and fell unconscious.
Members of the workers’ union of the company told Indian Express on the condition of anonymity that Kumar had gone to help Aslam. However, “he also seems to have inhaled the fumes and lost consciousness,” a worker told the daily.
Meanwhile, the third worker, Shailesh, who was near the opening of the tank, began feeling dizzy but was pulled out before he lost consciousness.
Subhash Boken, the PRO of Gurgaon Police, said the families of the three workers have been alerted and are making their way to Gurugram. “A case will be registered once they arrive and submit a complaint,” he said.
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The men were employed for the job through a contractor, whose whereabouts remain unknown.
Despite the high number of deaths of sanitation workers due to lack of required safety gear, the trend has remained unchanged. In a similar incident in the city in May 2018, one person was killed and two others injured while cleaning a sewer of a private firm in Sector 9.
Before that, in September 2017, three sanitation workers were killed and another was injured in Gurugram’s Khandsa after they inhaled poisonous gases while cleaning a sewer.