Three labourers die inhaling toxic fumes in septic tank

The incident took place around 3.15 pm at a public toilet on Charkop link road in front of Atharv complex, Ekta Nagar. The deceased labourers have been identified as Sayyad Rauf alias Baba, 35, Ganpati Virswamy, 45, and Annadurai Velmil, 40.

They were all residents of Cheetah camp in Mumbai’s eastern suburbs.

The police said they were in the process of registering an FIR against the private contractor who illegally hired the labourers. The toilet where the accident occurred was used mostly by the slum dwellers in the area.

Following complaints of a foul stench from the toilet for the past few days, the private operator tasked to run the private toilet by the BMC allegedly hired the three men to clean its septic tank.

The three went inside the septic tank and passed out after inhaling toxic gases while removing human waste with the help of buckets. Locals managed to pull out two of them but the third had to be fished out by the fire brigade. All were taken to the nearby Shatabdi hospital where they were pronounced dead. “We are in the process of registering an FIR against the person who hired them,” said Dinkar Jadhav, senior police inspector of Kandivali police station.

The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, bans use of any individual for manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of or otherwise handling in any manner, human excreta till its disposal.

The BMC has cesspool vehicles and C P lorries in each of Mumbai’s 24 wards for cleaning septic tanks in public or private premises. But private contractors illegally hire labourers and make them do this work manually.