New Year bonanza for sewer workers in Nabha

Sanjay Bumbroo

Tribune News Service

Nabha, December 15

It turned out to be a New Year gift for sanitation workers in the town as they have received safety dresses and kits from a non-resident Indian (NRI) from Australia Deep Chandaliya.

The safety dress is not only waterproof but also resistant to any chemical reaction during the sewer cleaning operation. The kit also contains the headgear with a mask to save the workers from inhaling any poisonous gases during the process of cleaning sewer lines. 

Municipal Councillor from Ward No. 14 Bablu Khora while talking to The Tribune said his NRI friend and native of Ludhiana Chandaliya had sent the safety dresses and kits for the sanitation workers of the town.

He said the entire kit costs around Rs 40,000 and added that he, along with his another friend Nitin Baghria, had been providing training to the workers who generally belong to the downtrodden strata of society.

Khora said the total number of sanitation workers in the town was only 20 to 22 which was not sufficient to keep the city clean. Keeping in view hazards in the profession, people belonging to weaker sections of society also avoid doing such tedious jobs.

He said after the unfortunate incident in Ludhiana on September 16, 2016, in which two sanitation workers were suffocated to death while cleaning the sewer lines, he, along with other members of his Scheduled Caste community, had decided to improve the working conditions of the sanitation workers.

He said they had been leading a campaign across the country to urge the authorities concerned to improve their working conditions by providing them safety kits. He said he along with Baghria had also been giving demonstrations to the workers across the country as to how to use the dresses and kit during cleaning operations.

Khora said it was not possible for non-government organisations to provide such costly kits to the sewer men.

He urged the Centre to provide safety dresses and kits to the sewer men so that precious lives could be saved during cleaning operations.