MCF employee suffocates to death inside sewer line in Faridabad

A 50-year-old sanitation worker in Faridabad died due to suffocation while inspecting a sewer, raising concerns over safety equipment and negligence.

Gurugram: A 50-year-old sanitation worker of Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) died after suffocating inside a sewer pipeline while carrying out manual scavenging in Faridabad’s Sector-19 on Thursday, said police.

Police said Pahalwan’s family members alleged that he was not provided any safety equipment such as masks and oxygen cylinder.

The deceased was identified as Joginder Pahalwan who hailed from Aurangabad in Mitrol, Palwal. “Pahalwan was inside the sewer line for inspection and lost consciousness due to suffocation and collapsed inside,” said police.

According to the police, residents of Sector-19 had made complains to MCF about the clogged sewer line, following which a team of MCF sanitation workers reached the area.

Police said Pahalwan’s family members alleged that he was not provided any safety equipment such as masks and oxygen cylinder.

Yashpal Yadav, public relations officer of Faridabad police, said locals had alerted the police control at 1.20 pm, following which teams reached the spot.

Investigators said a co-worker accompanying Pahalwan’s alerted the senior authorities immediately after the incident. However, rescue operation was delayed as safety equipment were not available at the site.

He was rushed to the Badshah Khan civil hospital but doctors declared him dead on arrival, added police.

Yadav said Pahalwan’s son Nitin, 21, has submitted a complaint alleging negligence by officials of MCF’s Old division, including a junior engineer, subdivisional officer and executive engineer.

“Process is on to register an FIR against them for causing death by negligence,” he added.

Meanwhile, an MCF official said the corporation did not receive any complaint from residents for sewer cleaning. “Its unclear why the team went there. An inquiry has been launched,” he said.

The incident comes within two days of two contractual workers becoming unconscious and getting drowned after falling into tank of sewerage treatment plant of MFC in Jeevan Nagar Part-I on Tuesday morning. The workers were trying to enter inside to clean it without any safety gear on directions of the contractor running the plant.