2 die of suffocation while cleaning septic tank in Gurugram

Sanjay Yadav

Gurugram, October 31

A sanitation worker and a local tailor died of suffocation while cleaning a septic tank at a house in Mohammadpur Jharsa village here on Sunday.

Dilip, 45, was a native of Agra in Uttar Pradesh and lived with his family at Narsinghpur village while Shahbuddin, 29, lived at Mohammadpur Jharsa village and used to work as a tailor, said police.

Both were called by one Bheem Singh at his house on Sunday afternoon for cleaning a septic tank. They got trapped inside the tank and fell unconscious while cleaning it. It was at around 5 pm that a police team was called and a team of fire brigade and civil defence started the rescue operation.

After a four-hour-long rescue operation, the teams took the bodies out, said a fire official. 

The families of the deceased alleged murder and demanded action against Bheem Singh.

The district administration and the municipal corporation had banned the manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks but the duo had stepped in the tank without any safety equipment.

“The two had entered the tank without any safety equipment. They were suffocated due to poisonous gas and fell unconscious. They were taken out and rushed to the hospital where doctors declared them dead,” said a police officer. 

Following the complaint of the son of one of the deceased, an FIR has been registered against Bheem Singh under Section 304-A (death due to negligence) of the IPC at Sector 37 police station on Monday.