A clogged manhole resulted in the death of four people — two labourers, who got into the manhole to clear it, and two passers-by, who rushed to their rescue — in Doddaballapur town on the outskirts of the city on Sunday.
They died of asphyxiation and the Fire and Emergency Services had to resort to an elaborate rescue operation for over two hours to retrieve their bodies.
The deceased were identified as Jagan, from Andhra Pradesh, and Goundar, from Tamil Nadu, labourers in their thirties working for a Hyderabad-based contractor. The contractor was working for the Doddaballapur City Municipal Council for maintaining the underground drainage system.
Madhu (21) and Muniraju (23), garment factory workers, rushed to the labourers’ rescue and died as a result. According to the police, Jagan and Goundar climbed down the manhole to clean it, reportedly without any safety gear, and soon started raising an alarm.
Madhu and Muniraju, who were passing by, tried to pull them out, but slipped into the manhole and died, a senior police officer said. The clogged manhole is 15 feet deep. Fire and Emergency Services and officials from the Doddaballapura City Municipal Council monitored the rescue operations. The families of Madhu and Muniraju staged a massive protest demanding compensation from the govermnent.
The person, who was supervising the work, and the contractor have been absconding since the accident.
The Doddaballapur police have registered a case against the duo. Despite a direction from the chairman of the Karnataka State Safai Karamcharis Commission, a case has not been registered against officials of the local civic body.
