A 37-year-old sanitation worker died after falling into a sewer while cleaning it in Dwarka’s Dabri, the police said on Sunday.
The deceased has been identified as Anil, they said.
Anil’s friend and co-worker Ramesh alleged that they had warned the employer about poisonous gases inside the sewer but he ignored their warnings and forced Anil to go inside. He was allegedly tied with a weak rope that broke and he fell inside the sewer and suffocated to death.
The police control room received a call at 8 p.m. on September 14 about the incident. The police and the fire brigade reached the spot. The injured man was taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.
Anil was hired by one Satbir alias Kala, a resident of Dabri village, to clean the sewer line as stagnant water in his building had been causing seepage.
The police said while climbing down the sewer, Anil slipped and the rope around his waist broke and he fell into the 20-foot deep sewer.
No safety gear
During investigation, it was found that neither any protective gear was provided to Anil nor was the rope strong enough to bear the tension and that it was not advisable to do the work in the evening.
Ramesh alleged that he had warned Kala about the life risk involved in entering the sewer, which was deep and full of poisonous gases, but he forced Anil to go inside and clean it.
“Kala tied a weak rope around Anil’s waist and forced him to get inside the sewer. The rope tore and Anil fell inside the sewer. Kala and I tried to pull Anil out, but we failed and he drowned,” he said.
An FIR has been filed under IPC Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and Prohibition of Employment of Manual Scavengers Act.
Kala had been suffering from high blood pressure and was in the ICU following the incident.
He has been discharged and will be arrested soon, the police said.
