Jal Nigam Project Manager Ghanshyam Diwedi, on whose complaint the police have booked contractor Satish Chandra Sachan, has alleged that no safety equipment was provided to Robin and Kallu. (Photo for representational purpose)A day after two persons died cleaning an underground sewer tank in Kanpur’s Babupurwa area, police have booked a private contractor for causing death due to negligence.
Robin and Kallu, both 22 years old, died of inhaling toxic gases while cleaning the sewer tank in the wee hours of Wednesday. Jal Nigam Project Manager Ghanshyam Diwedi, on whose complaint the police have booked contractor Satish Chandra Sachan, has alleged that no safety equipment was provided to Robin and Kallu.
“There was no safety equipment for the workers. If he (Sachan) had informed the higher officials, they would have ensured that the workers get safety gear like masks, oxygen cylinders, etc,” said Diwedi.
However, Sachan claimed that the supervisor who he had appointed to oversee the cleaning operation was responsible for the deaths. “The safety equipment was there. The supervisor had gone away for a while when these boys stepped into the tank. It was the supervisor’s mistake that the boys ended up going down the sewer without safety gear,” Sachan said, adding that he was a government authorised Class C contractor.
The police are yet to question Sachan. “We are conducting a probe. If needed, we will question the accused,” said Amit Tomar, SHO of Babupurwa police station where the case has been filed.
Meanwhile, at Kallu’s house in Barra area, his 51-year-old mother Jamila said, “Two of my sons — Kallu and Gibran (18) — had gone to work on Tuesday night. One has come back, one still hasn’t.”
Kallu got married three years ago and has an eight-month-old daughter.
According to Gibran, his brother Kallu fell unconscious the moment he opened the sewer tank. “It was around 3 am when our contractor told us to open a bolt… When my brother (Kallu) opened it, he became unconscious and fell because of toxic gases… (his co-worker) Rahul, who is our neighbour, went down. He somehow managed to come up. He remained unconscious for around two hours. When my brother did not return, Robin went in to check and he also collapsed… We somehow pulled them out with the help of ropes. We were given no safety equipment. We had to use our mobile phones for light,” Gibran said.
At Robin’s house in Gujaini area, his 47-year-old father Shyamlal said, “We have received a cheque, but that’s not enough…The government should provide better facilities to people who work in such risky professions… I had told my son not to work at night in the sewers.”
