THOOTHUKUDI: A conservancy worker employed by Tiruchendur municipality on contract basis asphyxiated to death after he fell into a manhole while clearing a choked underground drainage (UGD) pipeline near the Tiruchendur Murugan temple on Sunday.
The deceased was identified as P Sudalai Mani (40) of Gangaikondan, Tirunelveli. Sources said the municipality deployed contract conservancy workers to clean choked UGD pipeline as sewage overflowed on the road.
A group of conservancy workers were working on a manhole on the road behind the Tiruchendur government hospital on Sunday and Mani accidently slipped into it.
On information, the fire and rescue personnel rushed to the spot and rescued him, but he had asphyxiated to death, sources said. They added that UGD lines are to be cleaned only after the lids are kept open for three days to allow any gases that may have accumulated inside to escape.
However, authorities had forced contract workers to open the lids and clean the pipe on Sunday itself in view of the Vaigasi Visagam festival. A case has been registered. CPM town secretary Muthukumar said police shifted Sudalai Mani’s body to Thoothukudi MCH for post mortem examination instead of Tiruchendur GH to thwart any protests by rights groups.