BENGALURU: An outsourced employee of the BWSSB, Brijesh alias Akilesh, who drowned in the sewage treatment plant (STP) at Balegere, Varthur, last Thursday is yet to be traced despite continuous search operations by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Fire and Emergency Services personnel.
A Fire and Emergency Services officer involved in the rescue operation said the STP is over 40 feet deep and about 80 feet in diameter. Due to the high flow of water inside the plant, recovering the body has become extremely difficult. Although the water level has receded, nearly five feet of accumulated waste, including plastic and sludge, remains inside the plant. Since the STP is covered with only a small opening, carrying out rescue operations has been challenging.
The rescue personnel used an excavator, sensors to detect the body and also conducted manual searches using oxygen tanks. However, due to the accumulation of waste, the body could not be located. It is suspected that the body may have been pulled into one of the plant’s six pumps or buried beneath the accumulated waste inside the plant, the officer said, adding that the NDRF and emergency services personnel are currently inspecting all the pumps.
On June 18 evening, three workers fell into the wet well of the plant while repairing a gate. One of the workers, Karthik, managed to escape and alerted others. However, supervising engineer Agilan Mohan (30) and Brijesh from Bihar were swept away by the strong water flow inside the plant. The body of Mohan was recovered in the early hours of Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Varthur police have registered an FIR against Chennai-based firm, VA Tech Wabag Ltd, which had the contract to operate and maintain the STP, for allegedly violating safety measures. The police have registered a case under Section 106 (causing death by negligence) of the BNS.
Forum demans Rs 50 lakh compensation
Karnataka Mahithihakku Horatagara Samithi (KMHS) has appealed to the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to give Rs 50 lakh as compensation to the families of the two workers who drowned in the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP). Samiti members held a one-hour silent protest in front of the BWSSB office on Thursday.
They later met BWSSB Chief Administrator Madan Mohan and urged that the board should make the Private agency VA Tech Wabag cough up the amount.
“The agency that is tasked to maintain the STP in Bengaluru was also involved in a similar incident of STP deaths in Chennai in 2014. In the latest incident, relevant sections under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) should be booked against it as the primary accused, and BWSSB should be made the accused number 2,” said T Narasimha Murthy, adding that there is Supreme Court direction that compensation to Manual Scavenging death incidents should be from primary accused persons.