Four Asphyxiated While Cleaning Septic Tank in Delhi, Two Arrested

Manual scavenging has been banned by the Supreme Court. Image used for representation.

(Photo: iStock)

Two men were arrested on Sunday for “negligence” which led to the death of four sanitation workers due to asphyxiation while cleaning a septic tank in an under- construction building at south Delhi's Ghitorni on Saturday, the police said.

Those arrested were Niranjan Singh (42), who is a supervisor of the building, and Ridhipal (47), said a police officer.

He added that the supervisor had called Swarn Singh, one of the deceased, for cleaning the septic tank on the instructions of the building owner.

He had not ensured the safety of the workers and asked them to enter the septic tank without wearing protective gear, the officer said, adding that the other accused, Ridhipal, who was present at the spot, also did nothing to ensure their safety.

Both the men have been remanded to judicial custody.

Four sanitation workers died of asphyxiation while cleaning a septic tank in south Delhi's Ghitorni area on Saturday, police said.

Five men had gone down to clean the tank in a household in the area but did not come out for a long time. They were later pulled out in an unconscious state by fire department personnel after an hour-long operation at around 10 in the morning.

It is suspected that they inhaled toxic gases inside the tank.

Three of them were taken to the Fortis Hospital, while the other two were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre and the Safdarjung Hospital.

Four workers, identified as Swarn Singh (45), Dipu (28), Anil (23) and Balwinder (32), were declared brought dead. Jaspal, Swarn Singh's son, is currently undergoing treatment at Fortis.

All five are residents of Ambedkar Colony in Chhattarpur.