Our Correspondent
Tarn Taran, April 30
Two safai karamcharis were asphyxiated to death while cleaning a manhole in Patti today. Both were not wearing any protective gear.
The deceased have been identified as Aman Kumar (35) and Prem Kumar Kaka (29) of Patti.
As soon as they entered the manhole, they fell unconscious. Their co-workers took them out with the help of ropes. They were admitted to a local hospital, where doctors declared them brought dead.
Balwant Rai, president of the Safai Sewaks’ Union, Patti, said a contractor had hired Aman and Prem. They had been working for the Municipal Council for more than 10 years.
The postmortem was performed at the Civil Hospital. The police lodged a report under Section 174 of the CrPC.
All employees of the Patti MC decided to give their day’s salary to the families of the deceased. Patti MLA Harminder Singh Gill MLA, who visited the bereaved families, said the administration would give ex gratia grant of Rs25,000 each to the families.
Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, who was in the town when the incident took, did not visit the victims’ families. This enraged residents.
No lessons learnt
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