NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to pay Rs 10 lakh each as compensation to the family of two persons who died after inhaling toxic gases inside a sewer here last month.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma remarked that it was unfortunate that even after 75 years of Independence, the poor were forced to work as manual scavengers and asked the DDA, under whose jurisdiction the incident took place, to pay the compensation, as mandated under the law, forthwith.
The bench, also comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad added that the DDA shall also consider granting compassionate appointment to the family of the deceased persons and sought the presence of the vice chairman of the authority in case the order is not complied with till the next date of hearing. The order was passed on a public interest litigation (PIL) initiated by the court on its own based on a news report of the incident.
A sweeper and a security guard died on September 9 in Outer Delhi’s Mundka area after they inhaled toxic gases inside a sewer. When the sweeper had gone down to clean the sewer, he fainted and the guard followed to rescue him and he also fell unconscious, the police had said. “It is unfortunate that even after 75 years of Independence, poor people are forced to work as manual scavenger and the (laws on the issue) are not being followed,” said the court.