Sewer man faints in manhole, hospitalised by co-workers

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, December 12

A young sewer man ‘fainted’ after entering a manhole in Ward Number 3 near Bahadur Ke Road today. Pradeep (22) was quickly pulled out by his co-workers and taken to Christian Medical College and Hospital. It was learnt that the sewer man was wearing no safety gear.

Sources said choked sewers had been a major problem in the area for the past several days. President of Sewer Man and Karamchari Union Aman Kumar alleged that Pradeep was forced to enter the manhole by the personal assistant (PA) of the local Congress councillor.

Aman said three workers were standing outside while Pradeep entered the manhole. According to orders of the Supreme Court, manual scavenging is banned. Still, the sewer men are being forced to enter manholes, sometimes without safety gear.

An NGO working for the sewer men unions had earlier blamed that the officials concerned were often not present at the spot when sewer men do cleaning work.

Four such incidents have taken place in the city since August 2018. On August 30, Amit Kumar fell ill after entering a manhole at Gobind Puri. On September 9, Satvir was taken ill after inhaling gas in a manhole at New Subhash Nagar. On August 10, Vajinder suffered burns as a washing unit released hot water into the sewer during cleaning work.

Superintending Engineer Ravinder Garg could not be contacted for his comments.