A day after five people died because of asphyxiation inside a sewage treatment plant, the Delhi government ordered an investigation into the tragedy, on Monday. The supervisor of the sewage treatment plant, Ajay Chaudhary has been arrested on Monday evening, the police said. The 33-year-old, an engineer in the JLL company, has been charged under sections 304A/304 of the Indian Penal Code , 7 & 9 of Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013, 3(1)(j) & 3(2)(v) of The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The incident took place on Sunday afternoon at DLF Greens Apartments in the Moti Nagar area of the national Capital.
Labour Minister Gopal Rai directed the labour commissioner to submit a probe report within three days to decide upon next course of action. In a communique sent to the officer, the office of the minister said, “A tragic incident of death of five workers has taken place while cleaning sewer tank in DLF Green Apartments in Moti Nagar, Delhi. Minister of Labour has desired that a fact-finding inquiry is required to be conducted in the incident, so as to decide further course of action against defaulting agencies/firms by the government.”
The victims were identified as Sarfaraz, Pankaj, Raja, Umesh and Vishal. The police said they were rushed to a hospital, where they were declared brought dead by doctors
Meanwhile, a team of National Commission for Scheduled Caste visited the Moti Nagar STP to conduct an inquiry into the five deaths, a senior official said on Monday.
The commission has also issued summons to Delhi Police Commissioner, Delhi chief secretary, CEO, Delhi Jal Board, district magistrate (west), DCP (west), DLF chairman, asking them to remain present at the scene of the incident during the visit of the NCSC team. The team was led by chairman Ram Shankar Katheria.
Meanwhile, the Delhi wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party lashed out at the Aam Aadmi Party government for negligence which led to the deaths. Addressing the press conference at state party office on Monday, Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was solely responsible for the death of the five safai karamcharis.
NHRC ASKS DELHI GOVT TO SUBMIT REPORT
- The National Human Rights Commission on Monday asked the Delhi chief secretary and the police commissioner to submit a detailed report on the incident.
- The NHRC said the right to life of five innocent persons has been violated “due to negligence by the authorities and the contractor concerned”.
- “The commission has issued notices to Delhi’s chief secretary and police commissioner calling for a detailed report in the matter,” it said in a statement.
- “We would also like to know about the action taken against the authorities responsible in the matter along with measures taken for relief and rehabilitation of the kin of the deceased persons,” it states.
- The NHRC said it had taken suo-motu cognizance of a similar incident in 2000 and after discussions with various departments finalized guidelines and safety code for operation and maintenance of sewerage systems for compliance by authorities.
- The commission said it has been emphasizing to the authorities that they should provide safety gear to workers to avoid such fatal accidents. PTI
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