Parvati plant employee found dead

A 44-year-old class IV employee of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) was found mysteriously dead in the water treatment plant at Parvati water works on Sunday night. The body of Ganesh Bala Pasalkar, a resident of Guruwar Peth, was fished out from the water filtration tank around 11pm.

Pasalkar was last seen at 8.30pm working at the water treatment plant with seven other co-workers. He was supposed to work on the first shift on Sunday between 8am and 2pm, though later he voluntarily demanded overtime to continue his work from 2 pm to 10pm.

According to superintending engineer (Electricals) Shriniwas Kandul, “Pasalkar was recruited in PMC as a labourer in 1998, and was made permanent in the service on July 2, 2004. He was promoted as the waterman in 2009 and was shifted to the Parvati water works and was working there since then.”

Kandul said, “The workers of the second shift left for home and the workers of third shift started their duty at 10pm. Around 11pm, a waterman went to water filtration bed number 9 in one of the two water filtration plants to switch off the button of the plant and found Pasalker’s body floating in the water.”

After being fished out of the tank, Pasalkar was taken to Sassoon General Hospital where he was declared brought dead. “The PMC is awaiting Pasalkar’s medical report which would clear the reason behind the death,” Kandul said.

A similar incident had taken place in 2004 when an outsider was found dead in water filtration tank at Parvati water works. Kandul said, “After that incident, the security at the plant was biffed up and a team of around eight security guards was deployed to patrol the area round the clock. Moreover, two watch towers erected at two points of the water treatment plants and the compound wall was built to prevent entry to any outsider from the other side.”