The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Metrowater official suspended

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Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Metrowater official suspended

Vidya Venkat

In the case of sewer cleaner’s death

As per guidelines, workers are supposed to use safety gadgets
Buildings told to put up diaphragm chambers, but the compliance has been poor

CHENNAI: An assistant engineer of Chennai Metrowater Division 47 was suspended on Wednesday following the death of sewer worker Ettaiyappan in a manhole on Tuesday evening.

Senior Metrowater officials said since he was the immediate supervising officer, he was supposed to have overseen the cleaning operations. Metrowater Managing Director Shivdas Meena told The Hindu that a departmental enquiry was on to establish the facts of the case. It is yet to be established whether the worker entered the manhole of his own volition or was acting upon instructions.

According to senior Metrowater officials, three workers were engaged in removing a sewer block on Vepery High Road on Tuesday. When a jet rodding machine failed to clear the block, Ettaiyappan went inside to remove the block and died of asphyxiation. The official said that the worker was experienced and had dived into sewer lines as deep as 35 to 40 feet deep on earlier occasions.

Way back in 1977, the Ministry of Works and Housing (now Ministry of Urban Development) had laid down guidelines for sewer cleaning operations in a manual on sewerage and

treatment. “Had Metrowater stuck to these guidelines, the death of the worker could have been avoided,” said A.Narayanan, the petitioner who sought a ban on manual sewer cleaning in the Madras High Court recently.

As per the guidelines, workers are supposed to use safety gadgets such as gas masks, gloves and gum boots while entering the manhole. Following the recent High Court order, human beings were prohibited from entering manholes. Entry was allowed only in rare circumstances with full use of safety equipments and supervision. A senior Metrowater official conceded Ettaiyappan had not used any safety gadgets on Tuesday. He said workers were given only a day’s training in the use of machines and safety gadgets in 2008. Metrowater field officers who supervise the work do not possess copies of the manual containing safety instructions, the official said.

According to ISO 9000 lead assessor G. N. Venkatasiva Subramaniam, every work of a hazardous nature should have a fool-proof safety mechanism and workers must be trained right at the time of induction. Sewer cleaning work is hazardous as it exposes to workers to toxic gases such as hydrogen sulphide and methane, he said. He added that audio-visual methods of imparting safety training could prove to be more effective than oral instructions.

Mr.Narayanan urged that an ordinance be passed to make it mandatory for buildings such as private apartments, marriage halls, restaurants, and hotels to include diaphragm chambers in their sewer lines for filtering solid waste and preventing sewer blocks.

“If this was done, sewer block complaints would come down,” he said. The guidelines laid down by the Ministry also recommend construction of diaphragm chambers.

Though Metrowater recently instructed buildings to put up diaphragm chambers, the compliance has been poor.

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