Lessons that die inside Vadodara’s septic tanks

VADODARA: Friday midnight’s incident in which seven persons died inside a septic tank at Hotel Darshan at Thuvavi village of Dabhoi taluka is a bitter reminder of similar incidents that have taken place in the past in the city.
Three sanitation workers had died at the Nakshatra Party Plot in Harni area of the city on December 2, 2016. Much like the Thuvavi incident, the workers had been called to the party plot to clean a septic tank there. The workers entered the tank without any safety gear and died of suffocation from the obnoxious gases inside the tank.
The deceased included a Vadodara Municipal Corporation worker Ramesh Solanki and two other labours Rahul Solanki and Pradeep Solanki. They were roped in by a contractor Shakti Kahar, who along with the party plot’s manager Dhaval Kadam, were named as accused in the case registered in the incident. The trial of the case is being heard by a Vadodara court.
Prior to this, two other workers had died while working inside the sewage pumping station at Kalagahoda on May 26, 2008.
On April 25, 2005, four other workers had died while cleaning a manhole near the Deep Multiplex in the Navayard area of the city.