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Two contract sanitation workers died of asphyxiation on Monday, September 22, while cleaning an underground sewer near Carmel Garden in Thiruverambur of Tamil Nadu’s Trichy district.
The deceased have been identified as A Ravi (38) of Thiruvappur in Pudukkottai district and Prabu (32) of Chinna Salem in Kallakurichi district. Both worked as contract employees for the Trichy City Corporation (TCC).
According to the police, Ravi descended into the sewer but found it difficult to breathe after inhaling toxic gas and fell unconscious. Prabhu, who rushed to rescue him, also collapsed.
Upon receiving information, fire and rescue services personnel from Thiruverambur recovered the bodies and sent them to Thuvakudi Government hospital for autopsy.
The incident reportedly occurred while the phase-2 works for the underground drainage network have been readied for commissioning. Speaking to TNM, Thiruverambur police said that a First Information Report (FIR) has been registered under section 106(1) (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
However, it has not been classified as a manual scavenging death. The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, Section 2(g) defines a “manual scavenger” as a person who manually cleans, carries, disposes of, or handles human excreta in any manner in an insanitary latrine or in an open drain or a pit into which the human excreta from the insanitary latrines is disposed of, or on a railway track or other such spaces or premises. This does not include a sewer or a septic tank.
The Act separately defines “hazardous cleaning” of a sewer or septic tank as “manual cleaning” by a worker without the employer providing them with protective gear, other cleaning devices, and without following safety precautions.
It also states that a person engaged or employed to clean excreta with the help of “devices” or “protective gear” will not be considered 'manual scavenger'. This narrow and ambiguous definition is utilised by employers to hire workers to do manual scavenging.
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