Two die cleaning sewer in Delhi, High Court condemns the incident
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New Delhi: After two people died due to inhaling toxic gases inside a sewer, the Delhi High Court condemned the incident. The bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma said scavenging work is being continued despite there being laws.
The court was addressing a PIL initiated on its own after the deaths of a sweeper and security guard were reported. The bench granted Delhi Development Authority (DDA) time to state its stand. Justice Subramonium Prasad said that the scavenger was forced to do the job despite laws existing to prevent it.
The incident took place on September 9. The sweeper had gone down to clean the sewer. When he fainted, the guard followed to rescue him. And he also fell unconscious after inhaling the toxic gas. Both were taken to hospital but declared dead upon arrival.
Senior advocate Rajshekhar Rao, the amicus curiae in the case, said that there were over 800 such deaths of safai karamcharis in Delhi alone between 2012 and 2017. Delhi government counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi said the executing agency should be made liable for the deaths.
The counsel for Delhi Jal Board (DJB) told the court that the area and employees belong to DDA. The lawyer for DDA sought time to seek instructions on the PIL. The next hearing is on October 6.