‘No additional aid to kin of dead sewage workers’

The judgment said, “entering sewer lines without safety gear should be a made a crime. For each such death, a compensation of Rs 10 lakh should be given to the family of the deceased.”

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Garg told Newsline, “As the workers were not employed directly under the MC but were employed by a contractor, the corporation was not liable for any negligence that led to their death. The responsibility of enhancing the compensation is the contractor’s, who is facing criminal charges.”

Garg added that the civic body, in its report sent to the UT Administration, clearly said that it had been the responsibility of the contractor to provide safety equipment to the labourers who died. The report also mentioned that the firm, Deol Engineering Works, which had carried out the cleaning work, was blacklisted. MC staffer Sukh Raj, posted in the Public Health Department, has been suspended as the firm was reportedly owned by his wife.