Two contractual workers laying a Noida sewage line die of suffocation

The workers were identified as Mohammad Aslam 30, and Hamid, 20. The authority on Friday filed an FIR against a contractor, who was tasked with the sewer line laying project.

Two contractual workers, both residents of Delhi’s Jahangirpuri, suffocated to death Thursday night after getting trapped underground while laying a sewer line in Salarpur village in Sector 107, officials of the Noida authority said.

The two workers were inside the pipes to clean mud when sewage flooded the pipes, thereby killing them (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The workers were identified as Mohammad Aslam 30, and Hamid, 20. The authority on Friday filed an FIR against a contractor, who was tasked with the sewer line laying project.

According to the officials, at 7.30am on Friday, a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) pulled out the two bodies from the pipes.

“The bodies have been sent for postmortem and other formalities,” RK Mishra, additional chief executive officer of Noida authority, said.

The authority also terminated the services of the site supervisor, Praveen Kumar, a contractual junior engineer (JE) who did not do his job properly, said the officials.

On March 25 this year, the authority gave the sewer line laying project with a budget of ₹24 lakh to Dankaur-based contractor Hariom Kumar. The project was to connect a small area in Salarpur with the city’s master sewer line to address sanitation issues. The contractor further sublet the project to a Delhi man, who roped in two labourers from Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area. These workers were laying a 65-metre-long pipeline to connect with the city’s master sewer line adjoining a natural drain that carries sewage along Dadri road, the officials said.

“The labourers dug up around 10 feet deep pits to lay 65 metre pipeline. They were using jacks to build tunnel to make way to lay pipeline. The jack was pushing the pipes into soil around 10 feet down from surface level. When the pipes were being laid, suddenly a nearby drain bed developed cracks. And the sewage from the drain started coming into pipes being laid by the workers. The two workers were inside the pipes to clean mud when sewage flooded the pipes. Eight workers standing near the jack fled and two inside the pipeline suffocated to death,” Mishra said.

“The incident took place at 9pm on Thursday night. We have terminated the services of the JE because he did not do his duty properly. Two workers died because their co-workers fled the spot instead of helping them. The contractor had called these workers from Jahangirpuri because they were expert in doing such kind of work,” Mishra added.