Coimbatore: In what is becoming a continual oversight of civic authorities to the hazards that sanitary workers encounter on the job, three sanitary workers died tragically after inhaling toxic fumes while cleaning a sewer at a pig farm in Lakshmi Gardens, Keeranatham, in Saravanampatti.
Coimbatore: In what is becoming a continual oversight of civic authorities to the hazards that sanitary workers encounter on the job, three sanitary workers died tragically after inhaling toxic fumes while cleaning a sewer at a pig farm in Lakshmi Gardens, Keeranatham, in Saravanampatti.
Subramanian, a resident of Ganapathy in Coimbatore who owns the pig farm called for sanitary workers to clean the pigs' sewer. Six workers from Kovil Medu arrived at the farm today. Out of them, the trio Rajappan (32), Vediyappan (29), Vediyappan (30) reportedly succumbed one after the other to the toxic fumes emanating from the sewer and also fell inside it, at 11 am.
Based on the information received, fire fighters arrived the spot and recovered the bodies of the workers. The Kovil Palayam police are conducting a thorough investigation regarding this shocking incident. Based on the first level of investigation, it was found out that the deceased workers were not professional sewer cleaners but are daily wagers who are employed mostly at construction sites.
According to sources, the owner of the farm who permitted them to work has thereby violated safety rules and is likely to be arrested. It is yet unsure whether he will compensate the families of the deceased. Social activists accused the TN Govt and the Corporation Administration for not taking steps to create necessary awareness which has seen a rise in such tragic deaths.
Commenting on the incident, Selvam, a member of the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Committee said, "There are special laws that a human being should not clean human waste and moreover sewer tanks should not be cleaned without proper safety equipment. Likewise, the Tamil Nadu Government and the District Administration are constantly creating awareness on these issues.
However, in Municipalities and Panchayats, the sanitary workers do their work without any awareness, which often leads to casualties. Just as the Government would compensate, the owner should also compensate with an amount of Rs. 10 lakhs to the affected families. Apart from this, the District administration should ensure that the existing supervision team inspects the work done by these workers in the sewers and also conduct a monthly review meeting".