Two sanitation workers die cleaning manhole, Gujarat CM’s event cancelled

According to the police, victims Chirag Kanu Patadiya (18) and Jayesh Bharat Patadiya (28), had gone inside the manhole — 15 to 20 metres in depth — without any safety equipment or a rope line. The incident happened around 2 km away from an area where Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was scheduled to visit Wednesday to announce and inaugurate development projects worth Rs 400 crore. The event was cancelled following the deaths.

Around 8 am Tuesday, based on orders from senior Patdi Nagarpalika officials, Chirag, Jayesh and another worker Chetan Manga Patadiya went to the sewage line station near  Devotion School in Patdi area for the cleaning work.

Around 11.30 am, while working in the manhole, Chirag and Jayesh fell unconscious after a toxic gas started releasing in the chamber. Chetan, who was outside the manhole, unsuccessfully tried to rescue the men but failed due to the impact of the fumes, following which he called for help, said police. Later, Chirag and Jayesh were taken out from the manhole and rushed to a hospital, where they were declared dead on arrival, said police. Chetan is undergoing treatment at the hospital.

DySP Jugal D Purohit said, “We have arrested the contractor, Sanjay S Patel, and are questioning him about the role of Nagarpalika officials”.

Based on an FIR filed at Patdi Police Station, Patdi Nagarpalika Chief Officer Mausam Patel; Sanitary Inspector Harshad and contractor Patel were booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder among other charges, including those under the BNS, The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as well as the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act. The FIR, filed on the basis of the complaint filed by Jayesh’s uncle Baldev Jayanti Patadiya, stated that Chirag, Jayesh and Chetan — all residents of Valmiki Vaas in Surendranagar’s Patdi — are contractual sanitation workers.

DySP Purohit, meanwhile, clarified: “They were cleaning the lines as part of their normal schedule, and not because the CM was scheduled to visit.”

Surendranagar Collector Keyur C Sampat told The Indian Express, “This is an unfortunate incident and Jayesh was an expert…We have booked the Chief Officer based on orders previously passed by the Supreme Court and an investigation is underway.”

Speaking about the projects, which were scheduled to be inaugurated by the CM Wednesday, the Collector said, “The projects are worth Rs 400 crore. These included the ground-breaking of a four-lane road from Dudhrej to Bahucharaji worth Rs 220 crore, and two major water supply schemes worth Rs 100 crore. The programme was to be held in Patdi, which is why it stands cancelled”.

Head of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee SC Cell, Hitendra Pithadiya, meanwhile, alleged there have been 160 such cases due to multiple reasons including underground sewer gas leakage, adding that “since 1993, 262 people have lost their lives”. In a post on X, Patadiya alleged that the incident involved “child labour” and demanded government jobs, proper compensation as per law for the next of kin of the deceased in such cases.