4 Rohtak cleaners die in water tank

Sunit Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, June 26

Four workers died while cleaning a pump in a storm-water disposal tank near meat market on Kacha Beri Road here today. While asphyxiation is suspected to be the reason behind their death, the exact cause will be known only after the post-mortem report is received tomorrow.

An FIR has been registered against Public Health Engineering (PHE) Superintending Engineer Vishal Bansal, Executive Engineer Vijender Hooda, SDO Surjeet Kumar, Junior Engineer Sandeep Dhankhar and an employee, Neeraj, on the basis of a complaint lodged by Parmender, brother of Dharmender, one of the workers who died in the incident.

The officers have been booked under Section 304 of the IPC, Sections 7, 9 and 22 of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavenger and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, and Section 3 of the SC and the ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The complainant said his brother, who was told to enter the tank to clean the pump along with three other workers, Sanjay, Ranjit and Anil, had told PHE official Neeraj that the task was risky as there could be a poisonous gas in the pipe.

“My brother and other workers demanded safety devices from the Public Health Engineering Department official. 

However, Neeraj said the people of our caste were supposed to do this job and asked my brother and others to get down into the chamber and clean the pump,” he alleged.

The four persons then entered the tank, but as soon as they opened the pump, a poisonous gas got released and all of them died, he said.

Parmender and Ranjit’s brother Tufan held the officials of the PHE Department and the contractor were responsible for the deaths.

Ranjit’s uncle Mange Ram and family members ofthe  other deceased demanded compensation and government job or family pension to the dependents.

The district administration has released Rs 30,000 for the last rites of each of the deceased. Rohtak Deputy Commissioner RS Verma said the case had been sent to the authorities for adequate compensation and a committee has been formed to probe the case.