Three labourers working in a manhole without any safety gear died of asphyxiation in Ramanagaram, around 50 km from Bengaluru, on Friday morning. They were among five labourers working on a new Underground Drainage (UGD) line of the Ramanagaram City Municipal Council.
The labourers, four of whom were Dalits, were residents of Kamala Nagar in Bengaluru. They were put to work by Harish, a Class I contractor who had bagged the tender for the new UGD line. They had recently built eight new manholes, and were connecting the existing sewer to the newly constructed one.
Rajesh, 30, entered an existing manhole, around 20 feet deep, to connect them to the newly built manholes, but fell unconscious and died of asphyxiation. His colleagues got into the manhole to rescue him, but also died of asphyxiation, said the police.
“The father of one of the labourers, Ramachandrappa, was waiting in the newly constructed manhole to check the inlet, even as his son died in the other manhole,” Mohan Kumar, DySP, Ramanagaram said.
The incident is the second such incident this year of labourers losing their lives after entering manholes without any protective gear for projects of government agencies. In January this year, two labourers died while cleaning manholes for Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB), drawing a sharp reaction from the Karnataka High Court.
On February 23, Narayana, 34, allegedly ended his life in Maddur. He was allegedly harassed by two officials of Maddur Town Municipal Council after photographs and a video of him being forced to clean a manhole without any safety gear in November 2020 were submitted as part of a complaint to the Karnataka Safai Karmachari Commission.
The Ijoor police have booked a case against the contractor Harish under Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and under Section 304 of Indian Penal Code for Culpable Homicide not amounting to Murder. No arrest has been made.
No case has been registered against officials of Ramanagaram City Municipal Council.
Nanda Kumar, Commissioner, Ramanagara City Municipal Council said the contractor had carried out the work without their permission and without providing any safety gear. “We will take suitable action against the contractor,” he said.
M. Shivanna, Chairman, Karnataka Safai Karmachari Commission, said officials of the City Municipal Council were also culpable. “Council officials should have ensured labourers were provided adequate safety gear, if getting into the manhole was unavoidable. I have directed the district administration to also book officials who are culpable for the tragedy, and issue ₹10 lakh compensation to families of the deceased immediately,” he told The Hindu .
Section 3 of the Manual Scavenging Act permits labourers to enter a manhole in four exceptional circumstances, which includes connecting the newly built sewer line to an existing one, as was the case in Ramanagaram. However, the Act stipulates that the CEO of the local authority has to record the exceptional circumstances in writing and ensure adequate safety measures, which were reportedly not followed.
Mr. Nanda Kumar said, as the civic officials were busy with COVID-19 work, the contractor had illegally carried out the work without informing them.
Obalesh Bheemappa of Safai Karmachari Kavalu Samiti, said local bodies across Karnataka were turning a blind eye to the law. When an accident occurs, they blame contractors. “Civic officials are aware of the lack of safety gear and other violations of the Act, but do not seem to be concerned with its implementation,” he said.
While hearing a PIL in December 2020, the High Court observed that there was hardly any implementation of law prohibiting manual scavenging. On February 18, it asked Karnataka government to issue guidelines to urban and rural local bodies to ensure no person is forced to manually clean sewers and manholes, unless in exceptional circumstances.
