KOLKATA/MALDA: Four workers, all from Malda, died of asphyxiation and three were injured while trying to work on an underground sewer line in south Kolkata’s Kudghat on Thursday. The work was being carried out by the Kolkata Environment Infrastructure Improvement Project (KEIIP), which functions under KMC.
It appears there were several oversights, due to lack of monitoring. An official of the corporation’s sewerage and drainage department said the practice of utilising labourers to desilt sewers by climbing down manholes had been banned. “None of them was wearing a safety belt. Also, they did not wait for the toxic gas to be released. No one appears to have checked the level of water, either. There was no engineer to supervise them, which is against safety rules,” he added. Cops said two of the deceased were first-timers in this hazardous work. KMC has launched an inquiry.
The labourers, who entered an underground pit to connect a drainage pumping station with a sewer line, fell unconscious after inhaling toxic fumes and drowned in the sewer sludge.
The deceased have been identified as brothers Jahangir Alam (22), Sabir Hossain (19) and Md Alamgir (35) — the son of a poor farmer — and Liyakat Ali (20). Two of the three injured have been identified as Soleman Ali (35) and Sariful Islam (24). All of them hail from Harishchandrapur in Malda. Police said at least two of them were first-timers with no prior knowledge about the hazards that entailed the work.
According to a civic official, the first worker who entered the pit fell unconscious on inhaling the toxic gas, possibly methane. With nearly 6ft of water in the chamber, the worker disappeared under it. Three more workers who entered the pit in succession to rescue them also fell unconscious and drowned. The water in the chamber was from household toilets and kitchens.
According to sources in the KMC, construction of a drainage pumping station was going on in full swing under the KEIIP near Kudghat. An old pumping station had been handed over to KEIIP by the irrigation department for the project. “The construction work was nearing completion. We were in a hurry to wrap up the project as the drainage pumping station was scheduled to be inaugurated soon,” said a senior KEIIP official.
“It appears the work was not supervised. Before entering a pit, the methane gas has to be released. Only after checking if the pit is safe should the workers have been allowed to enter,” a civic official said.
KMC board of administrators chairman Firhad Hakim said a three-member committee comprising controlling officers — DG, KEIIP; DG KMC drainage and sewerage; and DG KMC project development — will probe the matter and, based on the findings, the contractor of the project would be penalized. “We may need to lodge an FIR against the contractor if guilt is proved,” Hakim said. The contractor has been asked to pay Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased.
“When we were finally informed, we pressed the fire services and disaster management group of Kolkata Police. The labourers were rushed to SSKM hospital and Baghajatin hospital. Two of them reportedly died at each of the two hospitals,” said DC (SSD) Rashid Munir Khan. The Regent Park police have launched a probe. “We will lodge a case pertaining to negligence if we receive a complaint. The contractor and sub-contractor will be questioned,” said an officer at Lalbazar.
Local police said the deceased hail from Talsur village in Malda and had come to Kolkata through a local contractor, who offered “good money” for the job. “Jahangir was married with two children. The other two brothers were unmarried. Turab Ali, the father of the three sons, is a poor farmer. They went to Kolkata through a labourer for the work. We learnt that Liyakat and Sabir were first-timers in such work,” said a local.
Mansur Sk, local Congress leader and an aide to MLA Mostak Alam, said: “We are trying to bring the bodies as soon as possible.”