‘Everything changed the day I lost my son’: For 3 women whose loved ones died cleaning sewers in Delhi, justice out of reach

The Indian Express tracked down and met the three women to know how their lives changed overnight and where their case stands — it found a swell of despair and helplessness.

‘Unfair, but what can we do?’

Rampal

Background: Moved from UP’s Sisamau village to Delhi in search of better work opportunities; belongs to the SC community.

Case: Died cleaning a sewer in Rohini Sector 18 in 2011

Case status: Accused (a junior engineer) acquitted

Compensation: Rs 10 lakh received from the government

“This system where people like us are expected to take up these jobs, it’s unfair. But what can we do? We don’t have the education to get better jobs or money to study further,” Rampal’s wife Rajkumari (50s), who lives in Delhi’s Haiderpur village, said.

According to records, Rampal, who worked as a safai karamchari at a housing society, earning Rs 8,000 a month, died cleaning a sewer in front of the complex in Rohini’s Sector 18 in 2011. In October 2018, the Rohini Metropolitan Magistrate Court acquitted the accused, a junior engineer (JE), citing a lack of evidence. It noted that the sewer had not been maintained by the Delhi Development Authority (under whom the area falls) and there were no witnesses to confirm Rampal was instructed to clean it under the JE’s supervision.

Rajkumari said she was unaware of the court’s decision until now. “I was angry (about the way Rampal died) at first, but we just want to move on now,” she said.

After Rampal’s death, Rajkumari, who earned around Rs 5,000 working as a house cleaner, was left to raise their four children — Ravi, Rinki, Shivam, and Aditya — alone. Rinki completed a degree in Arts and works at a bank. The sons were forced to leave school after Class X to support the family, she said. Shivam works as a cleaner in a nearby society. Aditya is now a driver.

‘Everything changed that day’

Manoj (19)

Background: Family moved from UP’s Jhinjhana to Delhi in 2008; father stayed back in village, working as a farm labourer. Belong to the SC community.

Case: Died cleaning a sewer in Rohini’s Sector 3 in 2012

Case status: Trial pending

Compensation: Family says they received only Rs 2 lakh of the Rs 10 lakh compensation amount

“I moved to Delhi so I could give a good life to my children… Everything changed the day I lost my son… since my son passed away, my health has been poor,” Manoj’s mother Ram Kali (60), who lives in a JJ cluster in Rohini, said.

Ram Kali at her home in a JJ cluster in Rohini. (Express/Abhinav Saha)

In June 2012, Manoj, who had studied up to Class V, had been called by a private contractor to clean a sewer in Rohini’s Sector 3. According to Manoj’s brother Deepak, 30, who works at a nearby Airtel store, “Manoj accepted the job. His friend Shankar (47), a labourer from our village, entered the manhole but collapsed due to the poisonous gases inside. Manoj, without any safety gear, rushed in to save him. He collapsed too… By the time we reached the hospital, he was dead… It was his first time doing this kind of work.”

A case of negligence was filed against the contractor, but the trial remains pending.

On March 5 this year, the South Rohini district court in its order said: “As per the report received from the office of the DCP concerned, the said PW (prime witness) is stated to have left the previous address and his contact no. is not available. In view of the report received, the name of PW Rahul is dropped from the list of witnesses.”

The family said they received only Rs 2 lakh of the promised compensation of Rs 10 lakh. Deepak and his second brother Sunil, 32, who does housekeeping at a mall, said they made several attempts to pursue justice. “Last year, we went to the SDM’s office to ask for the rest of the money, but they told us the trial is still pending,” Deepak said.

‘No money to run after case’

Nar Singh (55)

Background: Halalpur village in UP’s Baghpat, family belongs to an SC community.

Case: Died cleaning a sewer in Patparganj Industrial Area in 2009

Case status: Accused untraced

Compensation: Rs 10 lakh received from government

“We don’t want to fight the case. We cannot run after it from one office to another anymore. We don’t have that much money,” Nar Singh’s wife Salesh Devi (60), an anganwadi worker, said.

Records show that Nar Singh, along with co-worker Rajesh Mehto from Bihar, died cleaning a sewer in Patparganj Industrial Area, Delhi, on December 6, 2009.

According to Devi, she received the Rs 10 lakh compensation only in July 2022 — 13 years after her husband’s death. “For around 13-14 years, nobody came to my aid. There have been days when there was nothing to eat at home and I had to ask neighbours for money,” she said while breaking down in tears.

In the case, it was alleged that Nar Singh and his co-worker died due to negligence on the part of a contractor who was assigned the work by the state government-run Delhi State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC).

DSIIDC said it had given the work of installing pumps in the pump house to a firm and the accident took place away from the pump house. The Delhi Police filed a report stating it could not “trace” the accused.

In his letter to the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK), dated March 15, 2010, Y S Solanki, Chief Project Manager (ED-IV) of DSIIDC, wrote: “On 06.12.2009… I was… informed by police… an accident had taken place in the manhole. According to the scope of work covered in the said agreement, there was no mandate for the contractor to clean the manhole or send labour(ers) into (it)…”

Devi has three children — two sons, Shashikant and Durgesh, who work as delivery agents at an e-commerce firm in Jaipur, and a daughter, Kumari Shanu, who is a data entry operator at a government hospital.

“We never talk about the incident… but whenever I see such news on TV or read about it in the newspaper, everything comes back,” said Shanu.