Sewer man taken ‘ill’ after entering manhole in Ludhiana

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 7

A contractual sewer man fell ‘ill’ after entering the manhole of a choked sewer in Ward Number 17 today. He was admitted to a private hospital.

Akali leader Balwinder Singh, who is husband of Ward Number 17 councillor Jasmeet Kaur, said a contractual employee, Sagar, had entered the manhole to clean the choked sewer. “There is a problem of choked sewers in the area. When Sagar entered the manhole, he fainted inside. No safety kit was provided to the sewer man. He was rushed to the nearby private hospital. His condition is improving,” he said.

Subash Desawar of the Safai Karamchari Andolan said a probe should be marked into today’s incident and action taken against the officials concerned.

Meanwhile, MC SDO Parshotam and Superintending Engineer Rajinder Singh claimed that no sewer man had fallen ill or fainted. Parshotam said: “There is no issue at all and allegations are false. Actually, the sewer man had worn proper safety kit while cleaning the sewer chamber. The sewer chamber is just 3.5-foot deep. As chickens are slaughtered at a nearby location, the sewer man can’t bear the chicken stink and immediately came out of the sewer chamber himself. His health was normal at that time and he also took a bath after coming out of the manhole. The sewer man was later taken to the hospital just for a medical examination. He is completely fine.”