CUTTACK: Days after a Rajasthan native’s death, a 35-year-old worker slipped into the Main Storm Water Channel (MSWC)-1 of the city and drowned in the silt on Wednesday.
P Narasingha, engaged in clearing garbage from MSWC-1, was apparently hired by a private agency engaged by WACTCO’s Drainage Division for cleaning the channel. He belonged to Barapathar Makarbag Sahi of the city.
Sources said Narasingha was engaged in cleaning MSWC-1 for the last three days. He was asked to clear garbage accumulated near Sola Pua Maa Thakurani temple in Barapathar at around 2.30 pm. While carrying out the work, he slipped and drowned in the channel. Locals took Narasingha out of the channel and rushed him to SCB Medical College and Hospital where doctors declared him dead.
The deceased’s sister Bhabani blamed WATCO for Narasingha’s death. “My brother was cleaning the drain manually without any safety measures. There was no other person to inspect and supervise the work at the site. If a supervisor had been present, Narasingha’s life could have been saved,” she said.
Irked over the death of the worker, locals staged a road blockade at Buxi Bazaar and Barapathar road by burning tyres and demanded adequate compensation for his family. Later, the road blockade was withdrawn with the intervention of the Dargha Bazar police station.
The back-to-back deaths in open water channels have shocked the city. A portion of the MSWC-1 poses a risk to locals. A country liquor shop runs on its bank and people walk over the channel with no barricades.
The manager of the WACTCO drainage division Bijay Kumar Panda claimed the deceased was not engaged by the government agency.
“We had not engaged him in cleaning the MSWC-1 manually. He might have gone to the spot to collect something,” he said.
The inspector in charge of Dargha Bazar Police Station Chinteswar Munda said an unnatural death case has been registered. “The post-mortem report is awaited but the investigation is on to ascertain the agency which engaged him in cleaning garbage from the stormwater channel,” he said.