At the Kalachowkie sewer, the workers, Umakrishnan Kaliya Perumal, 25, Pandian Chatla Perumal, 25, succumbed to poisonous gases.
While the lack of adequate safety equipment can be seen as the direct cause of the death of two conservancy workers at Kalachowkie on Thursday, another reason is that they ignored the
absence of cockroaches in the sewer.
To make-up for the lack of regular safety gear, conservancy workers have, over time, come up with their own guidelines for going down manholes full of toxic fumes. One such guideline is to watch out for cockroaches spilling out of a manhole.
Their presence indicates oxygen inside the sewer and that it is safe for humans to go down it. At the Kalachowkie sewer, the workers, Umakrishnan Kaliya Perumal, 25, Pandian Chatla Perumal, 25, in their hurry to get the job done, ignored the fact that there were no cockroaches and both succumbed to the poisonous gases.
The unfortunate incident occurred at Kalachowkie near Bharat Bakery on Thursday morning. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been cleaning drains in preparation for the monsoon. For this, the civic body had appointed contractors to thoroughly clean out storm water drains (SWD) and work was going on in full swing across the city. The work is undertaken every year by the BMC to save the city from possible flooding.
This year, contractor RPS Mehta was awarded the contract to clean up storm water drains at Kalachowkie.
On Thursday, Umakrishnan, Pandian and Anil Londhe, 24, followed the usual procedures, but did not wait long enough.
They entered the drain with out any safety equipment like gumboots, hand gloves, masks or oxygen cylinder. The two along with Londhe quickly entered the manhole. This haste proved fatal for Umakrishnan and Pandian.
Within seconds Londhe came rushing out, but Umakrishnan and Pandian could not make in out fast enough and became unconscious due to the fumes.
They were rushed to KEM Hospital, but both were declared death soon after admission.
Kalachowkie police have registered case against the supervisor Ashok Chawdhary. “The BMC will take appropriate action against the contractor according to contract conditions,” said PJ Shah, chief engineer, storm water drains.
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