RANIPET: Four workers fainted after allegedly inhaling toxic fumes from a sewage tank at the Ranitec Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) in VC Motour, on Wednesday.
According to sources, two workers entered the tank to clean it on Wednesday morning when they inhaled toxic fumes and fell unconscious. On noticing this, two other workers attempted to rescue them but also inhaled the fumes and collapsed.
Members of the public rescued all the four workers, and they were rushed to the government hospital in Walajapet. Police said one of the workers, Ezhumalai, was in critical condition and later shifted to the intensive care unit of Christian Medical College Hospital (CMC), Puttuthakku, by the company. The other affected workers have been identified as Ramesh, Shantakar and Iftar.
The Ranipet police have registered a case against the company’s managing director for allegedly directing the workers to enter and clean the tank.
Meanwhile, relatives of the workers and the general public alleged that adequate safety equipment had not been provided at the facility. They urged the district administration to take strict action against companies violating safety norms and demanded that regular inspections be conducted at these sites.
However, Sivakumar D, general manager of Ranitec, maintained that all necessary safety equipment are being provided to workers at all times and also added that the condition of all the four workers was stable.