Two labourers die, one falls ill while cleaning sewer at construction site

Two labourers died, and another was injured after inhaling poisonous gas inside a sewer tank at a construction site in Pillanji village near the Sarojini Nagar Metro station, the police said on Wednesday. The incident occurred on Tuesday when the labourers were removing garbage from an unused sewer at the NBCC construction site.

A senior police official said a call was received at the Sarojini Nagar police station reporting a building collapse and three people trapped at the site. The police rushed to the spot and found that the labourers had fallen unconscious while attempting to clear the sewer.

“It was found that two labourers were removing garbage from a gutter that was currently not in use when they became unconscious. To rescue them, another labourer entered the sewer but also lost consciousness,” the official added.

The deceased labourers were identified as Babundra Kumar Singh (29) from Gopal Ganj, Bihar, and Ramasre (41) from Hamirpur, Uttar Pradesh.

Shrinath Soren (28) from Dakshin Dinajpur, West Bengal, is undergoing treatment at Diyos Hospital in Safdarjung Enclave.

A case has been registered under Sections 106(1) (death due to negligence), 125 (endangering human life), and 125(a) (hurt) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Sources said there were no adequate arrangements for the workers to carry out their tasks safely. Since 2018, more than 400 people have lost their lives while cleaning septic tanks and sewers, according to data from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment from last year.

In a written reply to Trinamool Congress MP Aparupa Poddar, Minister of State Ramdas Athawale informed the Lok Sabha that 443 fatalities occurred during this period, with 49 deaths reported up to November 20, 2023. The year-wise breakdown includes 76 deaths in 2018, 133 in 2019, 35 in 2020, 66 in 2021 and 84 in 2022.