2 sanitation workers die after toxic gas exposure while cleaning sewer in Nuh

Police identified the deceased as Rajender Kumar alias Kalva, 27, from Mundkati in Palwal and Abdul Kalam, 30, from Nunabadi in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh

Two sanitation workers were killed and another was hospitalised in a critical condition after they inhaled poisonous gas while cleaning a sewer line without any safety gears in Nuh’s Firozpur Jhirka on late Tuesday, police said on Wednesday.

Police carrying out rescue work on Wednesday. (HT)

According to police, the incident took place at Ambedkar Chowk between 9.20 pm and 9.30 pm on Tuesday while the public health engineering department (PHED) was getting a sewer line cleaned through one of its contractors.

Police identified the deceased as Rajender Kumar alias Kalva, 27, from Mundkati in Palwal and Abdul Kalam, 30, from Nunabadi in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The third worker, Mohammad Arbaz alias Bhura, 28, was critical and undergoing treatment at a government hospital in Mandi Khera.

Police said they received a call about the incident by 10 pm. Teams were sent to the site, and workers were pulled from the several-feet-deep sewer and rushed to the hospital where two were declared dead.

Father of deceased worker says his son went inside the sewer without safety gear

Jamshed Mohammad, Kalam’s father, said that workers present on the spot told him that his son and his colleagues were working for a contractor of the PHED for the last one year.

“Kumar entered first. He did not have any safety gear, hence he fainted soon after. My son was on a leave but the contractor called him and asked him to enter inside to check on Kumar,” he said.

Mohammad said that Kalam entered the sewer but he too fainted. The contractor then asked Arbaz to enter, but he also fainted after going inside.

“All three were made to enter inside the sewer with no safety measures or oxygen cylinders by the PHED officials and contractor. The sub-divisional officer (SDO), junior engineer (JE) and the contractor of the PHED are responsible for the deaths. Action must be taken against them,” he said.

Mohammad said that he along with his relatives went to the spot and found out about his son’s death.

A senior official of the PHED said that a report on the deaths has been sought from the executive engineer rank officials. “On the basis of the findings, action will be taken against the officials and the contractor if their negligence is ascertained,” he said.

The officer said that all kinds of safety equipment including masks, oxygen cylinders and safety harness are available in all the districts. “However, it was yet unclear that why the workers were not provided with these materials before entering inside the sewer in Nuh on Tuesday night,” he added.

Krishan Kumar, public relations officer of Nuh police said that the sewer line and the concrete cover was broken after an hour using an earthmover.

“Other sanitation workers had refused to go in. Police teams broke the sewer line with an earthmover to create a wide opening,” he said, adding that rescue workers were deployed inside with safety gears and they pulled the trio out with the help of locals.

A senior officer said that Kalam’s father submitted a complaint against the PHED SDO, JE and the contractor at the City Firozpur Jhirka police station and they have been booked under sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 3(5) (common intention) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on Wednesday.

“Further investigation is underway. The bodies have been handed over to the families after postmortem and the reports are awaited,” he said.