Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Tuesday that the Delhi government would give ₹10 lakh and a job each to the families of labourers who died cleaning a sewer in Lajpat Nagar on Sunday.
Three workers, Mohan, Annu and Joginder, had died after they inhaled poisonous gas as they climbed into a sewer in south Delhi.
Mr. Kejriwal and Delhi Jal Board (DJB) chairperson Rajendra Pal Gautam met the kin of the victims in Trilokpuri on Tuesday.
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‘Engineers responsible’
“This is the second such incident in a month [four men had died while cleaning a septic tank in Ghitorni on July 15]. We have set up a high-powered committee to investigate how these incidents happened. The DJB CEO has told me that they had not given any contract for the work,” said Mr. Kejriwal.
The CM said that though the DJB maintained it had not contracted the workers to enter the sewer in Lajpat Nagar, the committee would hold assistant engineers and junior engineers responsible for such cases in their areas.
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Referring to the ban on manual scavenging, Mr. Kejriwal said cleaning of drains by hand was illegal and there would be strict action against those employing labourers to do so.
‘Minute of silence’
Later in the day, the Delhi Assembly observed a minute of silence for the deceased labourers.
Speaking during the session, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that there were “standing instructions” from the Delhi government to have all sewer-cleaning work done by machines, and not by labourers climbing down into the drains.
He added that one person each from the families of the victims would be given jobs with the Civil Defence.
Mr. Gautam added that though the DJB has enough machines to clean sewers, if there was any instance where the machines could not be used and a worker had to clean it, then the area’s junior engineer would have to ensure safety and be present at the site.
Raju, Annu’s cousin, said they have not yet received any formal confirmation about the relief.
He also hoped that the police would keep them in the loop about the progress in the probe of the deaths.
Mohan’s elder brother Babloo’ said: “The money and job will help Mohan’s wife and children, and especially our parents. Mohan was the one looking after them”.