Mulund site supervisor arrested

A day after three labourers suffocated to death while cleaning a choked sewage drain in Bhandup, the site supervisor was arrested on Monday for allegedly making them work without proper protective equipment.

Dhaneshwar Sawai (35), Satish Pradhan (32) and Rajkishore Biswal (47) were cleaning the sewage drain on Sunday when they got stuck and started feeling suffocated. While four others who were working with them managed to get out, Sawai, Pradhan and Biswal were deep inside the 20-ft drain and were stuck. They were taken to a hospital an hour later but declared dead before admission.

“Based on the statement of Ravindra Sawai, a labourer who is related to Dhaneshwar and Pradhan, we registered a complaint against the site supervisor, Shivanand Chavan (37), a resident of Chembur,” said senior inspector Nishikant Tungare of Kanjurmarg police station.

The police said Chavan was employed with the Sriram EPL Company, a Chennai-based company that has been given drainage cleaning contracts by the BMC.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com