Sewer man falls ill after entering manhole

Harshraj Singh
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, April 11

A 35-year-old sewer man fell ill after inhaling poisonous gas inside the manhole chamber near Quality Chowk, Shimlapuri, today. He was admitted to the nearby Grewal hospital where his condition is stated to be out of danger, said an official.

The sewer man has been identified as Sandeep, a regular employee, who entered the manhole without safety gear. When Sandeep entered the manhole, he became unconscious and was immediately pulled out by the co-workers, according to information.

A junior engineer of the Municipal Corporation, Nirpal, said cleaning of sewer lines in the area was going on. “A team of five employees was working to clear the choked sewers at Shimlapuri today. It was learnt that Sandeep went inside a manhole to inspect the choked sewer around 10:45 am. When he fell ill, the other sewer men pulled him out of the manhole,” he said.

He said: “A numberdar was present at the spot when the incident took place. The safety kit was available there but it was not used. The sewer men had earlier used jet machines and other equipment to unclog the sewers, but to no avail.”

Superintending Engineer Rajinder Singh said they were looking into the matter. “Sewer men were doing routine work. Sandeep became nervous, but he is fine now,” he added.

Allegations against ward councillor’s PA

Meanwhile, an MC employee alleged that the personal assistant of a Lok Insaaf Party councillor forced the sewer man to enter the manhole without safety gear. Denying the allegations, Councillor of Ward 36 Harvinder Singh Kaler said: “My personal assistant did not ask anyone to enter the manhole. Even we did not make any complaint about the choked sewer where a sewer man fell ill. Sewer men were doing their routine work after the winter season.”

Safai Karamchari Andolan slams MC

Subhash Desawar, state convener of Safai Karamchari Andolan, said: “According to the orders of the Supreme Court, manual scavenging was banned. But the sewer men are still being forced to do manual scavenging. They are still forced to enter manholes without safety kit.”

“It is not the first such incident. Actually, the civic body never learnt any lesson from past incidents where several sewer men had lost their lives. As many as 17 sewer men have lost their lives after inhaling poisonous gas in manholes. Besides, a number of sewer men have fallen ill while working in manholes,” he said.

“There is a shortage of safety kits with the civic body. We learnt that the safety kits made available to the staff are very heavy. We are planning to move court against the civic body. The MC should purchase necessary machinery to ensure cleanliness of sewers, instead of putting the lives of sewer men at risk,” he said.

Vijay Kumar of the Municipal Employees Sanyukt Committee said: “We demand the authorities concerned must ensure safety of sewer men. The safety kits are not being provided to all sewer men.”

Past incidents since August 2018

• December 2018: A 22-year-old sewer man fainted after entering a manhole in Ward Number 3 near Bahadur Ke Road. 
• August 30: A sewer man fell ill in a manhole at Gobind Puri. 
• September 9: A sewer man became unconscious after inhaling gas in a manhole at New Subash Nagar. 
• August 10: A worker suffered injuries while he was cleaning a sewer as a washing unit released its hot water into the sewer line.