Three manual scavengers suffocate to death in Bengaluru apartment

Karnataka manual scavenging monitoring committee says no safety gear was provided to the workers.

Three people died of suffocation while cleaning sewage treatment plant at an apartment complex in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Police said a case of negligence would be lodged against the apartment association. (Ravi Choudhary/HT File Photo)

Madegowda, Narayanaswamy and Srinivas were hired to clear a blockage in the STP at the ND Sepal Apartment at Somasundarapalya in HSR Layout area around 10.40am.

KB Obalesh, a member of the Karnataka State Manual Scavenging Monitoring Committee, said Narayanaswamy and Srinivas first went into the 20-foot-deep STP. When they did not return, Madegowda followed.

Apartment supervisor Manjunath raised an alarm when all the three didn’t come out.

Obalesh said the apartment had given the work to Narayanaswamy, an electrician. “Neither any safety gear was provided to them nor were they informed about the dimensions of the STP,” Obalesh said.

The bodies were sent to St John’s Medical College for post-mortem. A senior police officer, on the condition of anonymity, said a case of negligence would be lodged against the apartment association.