The February 16 tragedy at a private hatcheries unit at Palamaner, in which seven workers were killed after inhaling poisonous gases while cleaning a septic tank, has become an eye-opener to the civic authorities all over the district, forcing them to inspect the existing conditions for workers while dealing with hazardous wastes, drains, manholes and septic tanks.
Post the tragedy, representatives of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and National Commission for Safai Karmacharis inspected the spot and consoled the family members of the deceased, helping their bit in release of compensation to the victim’s families.
No action
Though the district administration had initiated a probe into the tragedy, even after 40 days, there is no tangible step against the management. The district authorities themselves deplored that except for a small section of officials, there was no response from the proprietors or the top-level management. The Palamaner police had remained silent after registering cases against a couple of lower-level staff of the hatcheries.
What prompted the deceased workers to undertake cleaning of septic tank without wearing safety gear? This is yet to be answered.
‘Workers at fault’
The district, with its municipalities of Srikalahasti, Puttur, Nagari, Palamaner, Punganur and Madanapalle, boasts of total eradication of manual scavenging. The municipal corporations of Tirupati and Chittoor have sufficient funds to take care of the safety of the health workers by providing them the entire equipment required for hazardous works. “Sometimes, the public might see a health worker cleaning a drain or entering a manhole without safety gear. In this case, the fault would totally rest with the worker as he must have personally ignored the safety measures. We are supplying all gadgets, including masks, shoes, gloves and instruments for lifting waste and litter bins,” a senior official of Chittoor corporation observed.
Executive director, district SC corporation, Kanaka Narasa Reddy observed that the commissioners of municipalities and corporations had to totally look after the safety aspects of sanitation drives. “Our purview is very limited to the extent that we can just look into their grievances if any and try to solve them through district administration. Fortunately, we have absolutely no manual scavenging anywhere in the district,” he said.
Dearth of equipment
Though manual scavenging is totally absent in the district, it could happen in some form through private sector, feel some officials.
With growing population in the civic bodies, there is a dire need for sufficient manpower and gadgets with the departments concerned. However, most municipalities suffer from paucity of septic tank cleaning vehicles. For instance, the municipalities of Puttur and Nagari do not own such vehicles. The public have to depend on private cleaners, who fleece them with exorbitant charges. Some units engage workers on a daily basis, and whether they are provided with proper safety gear is a big question. Such issues come to light only after an unfortunate incident takes place.
Municipal Commissioner (Puttur) P. Srihari Babu said that strict instructions were issued to all private septic tank cleaners to compulsorily register with the civic body, and inform the concerned officials before executing cleaning of septic tanks. “We are undertaking special drives frequently to check the functioning of private parties and their adherence to safety norms,” he said.
