Delhi sewer deaths: Not our men, not associated with area contractor, says DJB

The incident has one again highlighted that in spite of an official ban on manual clearance of human excreta and waste in 2013, little has changed on the ground.

Lajpat Nagar, Lajpat Nagar sewer deaths, Lajpat Nagar sewer cleaning, Delhi Jal Board, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, indian express news

At the spot in Lajpat Nagar, on Sunday. (Express Photo Gajendra Yadav)

The three workers who died in Lajpat Nagar were neither employees nor associated with the contractor in the area, maintained the Delhi Jal Board while water minister Rajendra Pal Gautam ordered an inquiry. Soon after reports of the death of the three sanitation workers allegedly due to asphyxiation while cleaning a drain at Lajpat Nagar started streaming in, Gautam took to Twitter to offer his condolences and announce the government’s decision to order an “inquiry”. A few minutes later, he wrote, “It is learnt that workers were neither employee of DJB nor authorised by DJB.”

A DJB official elaborated, “The matter will be clearer after an inquiry. But prima facie it appears that the four who were working there had no links to either the DJB or the contractor in the area. It is quite strange, such a case has never happened before.”

The incident has one again highlighted that in spite of an official ban on manual clearance of human excreta and waste in 2013, little has changed on the ground. The three municipal corporations in Delhi have 2,382 nala beldars, or drain cleaners, on their rolls.

Story continues below this ad

The DJB too has nala beldars. Although, they maintain that workers have been told not to enter sewers and tanks since 2014 and “all drain cleaning work is mechanised” and only “in cases of emergencies are individuals sent into drain, as allowed by law”.

The BJP, meanwhile, wasted no time in attacking the Delhi government over the deaths — the second such incident in the past month. BJP Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari demanded a probe, asking the Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to intervene.

He said, “I request the L-G for a probe into the matter and compensation for the families of the victims. This is not the first incident of death of safai karamcharis (sanitation worker) during sewer cleaning and the attitude of Delhi Jal Board officials as well as the Arvind Kejriwal government continues to be callous.”