NEW DELHI: Two labourers who were asked to remove garbage from a gutter in southwest Delhi died due to the possible inhalation of toxic fumes inside the sewer while another one who went inside to save them is currently hospitalised, an official said on Wednesday.
The deceased were identified as Babundra Kumar Singh (29), a resident of Gopal Ganj, Bihar and Ramasre (41), a resident of district Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh.
Sharing details, DCP (southwest) Surender Choudhary said a PCR call was received at Sarojini Nagar police station on October 8 regarding a building collapsing and some labourers trapped under the debris.
However, when the Station House Officer (SHO) reached the spot i.e. National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) construction site at Pillanji village along with other police staff, it was revealed that two labourers were removing garbage from the gutter (not in use presently) and became unconscious.
"To rescue them another labourer also went into the sewer and later three of them were taken out. Two of the labourers were shifted to hospital by an ambulance of VCL construction company while the third one was sent through an emergency response vehicle (ERV) of the Police station to AIIMS, Trauma Centre," the DCP said.
Among the three injured, Babundra Kumar and Ramasre died during the treatment while the third injured Shrinath Soren (28), a native of West Bengal is still receiving treatment at Diyos Hospital, Safdarjung Enclave.
The officer said that they have registered an FIR under relevant sections of the BNS and a thorough investigation is being carried out. The post-mortem of the deceased Ramasre has been conducted and his body was handed over to his family. Further probe is on, the official added.
As per data shared by the central government in August this year, as many as 453 people have died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks since 2014 even as 732 of India's 766 districts declared themselves free from manual scavenging. This progress was highlighted by Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.