NHRC questions MCC in 2015 Sewermen Death Case

Chandigarh

10 December 2017

The Sewermen death case of May, 2015 has come back to haunt the Municipal Corporation, once gain. The National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi has passed an order directing the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh to file an action-taken report regarding:

1. Proposed insurance policy for the sewermen;
2. Payment of compensation of Rs. 10 lakh to the victims in terms of the judgement of the Supreme Court of India;
3. Status of Vigilance Enquiry No. 21/Vig/C dated 10.06.2015; and
4. Status of Magisterial Enquiry initiated vide Memo No. SDM(S)/(IO)/PA/2015/3185 dated 04.06.2015.

Copy of the orders were received by the complainant today.

Earlier, social activist and advocate, Pankaj Chandgothia, on May 31^st, 2015 had filed a complaint before the NHRC, upon which the Commission had issued show-cause notice to the MCC. In reply thereto, the MCC submitted before the Commission that:

1. All the works related to manhole cleaning were immediately stopped and no Agency was allowed to execute any such work after 30.05.2015.
2. The Agency namely M/s Deol Engineering Works # 601 Near Railway Station Vill Driya UT Chandigarh was blacklisted vide Memo No. 3755-64 dated 09.06.2015 issued by the Superintendent Engineer, MCPH Circle.
3. All contract agreements of this Agency have already been terminated by Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh. In future more resourceful firms having complete set up of safety equipment and knowledge of safety precautions will only be made eligible for such kind of works.
4. Presently, no work related to manhole cleaning is being executed.
5. A standard DNIT, comprising all safety precautions, safety equipments/gears, act of manual scavenging, IS code of practice for cleaning of manholes is being drafted for invitation of future tenders.
6. A Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) is being finalized which will be adopted for all future works. A list of precautionary measures has already been circulated by the Chief Engineer Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh vide Memo No. CE/MC/4399-4400 dated 23.06.2015.
7. A Group Insurance Policy for sewermen of the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh is also under consideration. In this regard, Municipal Corporation Chandigarh in its General House Meeting held on has resolved as under: “The House resolved that the Sewermen also be covered under the insurance policy on the pattern of insurance for Fire & Emergency Staff of Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh.”
8. The deceased were the employees of M/s Deol Engineering Works and the Agency was directed to pay compensation @ Rs. 10 Lakh per person as per Hon’ble Supreme Court judgement in Writ Petition (Civil) 583 of 2003 tiled “Safai Karamchari Andolan & Ors. vs. Union of India & Ors” vide Execution Engineer MCPH Division No. 4, Chandigarh Memo No. 5689 dated 11.06.2015. However, Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh has also paid an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh each to the family of the deceased. “Further the Hon’ble Supreme Court reiterated that duty to cast on all the States and Union Territories to fully implement the judgement and to take action against the violators.”
9. In the instant case M/s Deol Engineering Works, is the violator of “The Prohibition of Employment of Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013”. So, a case has been registered against the Agency under the Act.
10. A Vigilance Enquiry has already been initiated vide enquiry No. 21/Vig/C dated 10.06.2015 for investigation regarding the above case and awarding contracts to relatives of employees and officers of Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh.
11. A Magistrate Enquiry was also initiated vide Memo No. SDM(S)/(IO)/PA/2015/3185 dated 04.06.2015.

Chandgothia in his complaint had said that the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh cannot wash its hands off the tragedy by saying that the contractor is responsible. The MC is equally responsible for the deaths, because it is the PRINCIPAL CONTRACTOR.

Why is it that supervisors are either nowhere to be found or simply do not ensure that the sewer men wear lifesaving masks before descending into potential death traps? Did anyone in the MC check whether or not the contractor was following the rules, or was he to do as he pleased, only because he’d won the tender?, were the questions raised by Chandgothia.

Chandgothia had demanded that the MC must immediately terminate the contract of all the contractors and re-grant them after putting in place all safety measures.

2. No work should be allowed to be carried out without the presence of A Supervisor, who must ensure fulfilment of all safety precautions.

3. A Group Insurance Policy should be created for the benefit of all such workers, whether of the MC of the contractors under it.

4. An interim compensation of Rs. 25 Lakhs each for each of the deceased.

Further, an inquiry be initiated to find out details of all the MC work out-sourced and contracted by awarding contracts to relations of employees and officers of MC, Chandigarh and to terminate all such contracts.

COMPLAINT:

Three labourers, who were working with a private contractor hired by the Municipal Corporation, died after inhaling toxic gases on entering a 20-feet sewer chamber in front of the 3BRD Sewage Treatment Plant’s (STP) main gate in the Industrial Area, Phase II, to clean it.

The deceased have been identified as Ashraf (30), Dhan Singh (40) and Prem Pal (35), all residents of Gandhi Colony in Panchkula. All were workers of M/s Deol Engineering Work, owned by Jaspal Kaur, wife of Sukh Raj, who is a regular employee of the MC Public Health Wing.

The incident took place around 11 am (30.5.2015) when the sewermen opened the manhole cover and placed a ladder to go down the sewer. Ashraf was the first one to go down the manhole. As soon as he entered the sewer, he fell unconscious.

Dhan Singh and Prempal tried to rescue him but they also inhaled poisonous gases and failed to come out of the sewer.

All this while, their fourth companion, Bhora Singh, was sitting outside the manhole holding the ladder. He immediately raised the alarm and people gathered around the spot.

A call was made to the police control room following which the fire department and UT administration’s disaster management team reached the spot.

The rescue operation lasted for around an hour. Dhan Singh and Prempal were taken out of the sewer and were rushed to the Sector 16 Government Multi Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, where they were declared brought dead.

After a gap of about 30 minutes, Ashraf was also taken out and he was also declared brought dead at the hospital.

Two fire fighters who went in the sewer using oxygen masks were also admitted to the hospital after the rescue operation.

Poisoned by toxic gases that form in rotting enclosed spaces like gutters and water tanks, the three were inside a several feet deep manhole, without any gas masks or even a rope to pull and signal if they were in trouble. All three have left behind wailing wives and young children who cannot yet comprehend the tragedy. One child believed his mother had gone to get her father back from work, while she was actually crying her eyes out at the police station.

Contractor’s responsiblity

As per the contract between the MC and the contractor on November 2014, it was the responsibility of the contractor to provide all safety equipment to their workers. The contract was allotted to the contractor for Rs 2,500 per manhole (five times higher than the normal rate of Rs 500 because it was the responsibility of the contractor to provide safety equipment.

Contractor arrested

The police have arrested the contractor, Jaspal Kaur, in a case of causing death due to negligence under Section 304-A of the IPC. A senior police official said they were investigating if there was negligence on the part of any MC official. A case has been registered at the Sector 31 police station. Meanwhile, MC Commissioner Vivek Pratap Singh said directions had been issued to Executive Engineer Suresh Saini seeking explanation from the area JE and SDO.

Hand in glove

The death of three labourers has exposed the nexus between the MC staff and contractors. The contract was awarded to M/s Deol Engineering Work, Dariya village, Chandigarh, which is owned by Jaspal Kaur. Interestingly, Jaspal Kaur is wife of Sukh Raj, who is a regular employee of the Public Health Wing of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation.

THE ORDERS OF THE NHRC ARE REPRODUCED BELOW: