CHENNAI: A 25-year-old contract worker with the Avadi corporation died allegedly due to asphyxiation while removing blockages in an underground drain in Saraswathi Nagar on Sunday. Corporation officials told TNIE that the deceased, Gopinath of Arunthathipuram, had not gone down the drain, but fell in while operating a jet rodder. He is survived by his wife and two-year-old child.
According to police, Gopinath was on duty with three others clearing blockages in the Kurinji Street underground sewage line. He had removed the manhole cover to operate the jet rodder when he suddenly fell unconscious and collapsed into the drain, police said. Upon information, fire and rescue personnel arrived at the spot and retrieved Gopinath. He was then rushed to a hospital nearby where doctors declared him dead on arrival. Avadi police sent Gopinath’s body to the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital for postmortem examination.
Speaking to TNIE, S Kandasamy, Avadi corporation commissioner, said, “We have been using jet rodders to clean sewage lines to avoid manual scavenging. While Gopinath was operating the machine, he is said to have fallen unconscious into the sewer pit. However, it has not yet been confirmed whether he collapsed due to fumes from the sewer. A police inquiry will be conducted, and we are awaiting the autopsy report. From the initial investigation, it appears that safety measures were followed, but further inquiry will reveal more details.”
Last year in Avadi, two workers employed by a private school in Minjur to clean a septic tank died after they inhaled the toxic fumes emanating from inside.