One person died and four others were injured while desilting a storm water drain on RP Road on Thursday. With the monsoons here, RP Road, Nala Bazaar and General Bazaar often get flooded due to overflowing of the storm water drain here. Followed complaints from residents, the GHMC had started desilting works two days back.
On Thursday, five labourers had entered a manhole to desilt the drain when they were washed away with a sudden gush of water. While four of them managed to hold on to another manhole, the fifth, 25-year-old Devraj, from Kongapal village, Parvathagiri mandal of Warangal district, was washed away.
No safety gear for workers
Thursday morning’s accident on RP Road, which left a labourer being washed away and four others injured while they were cleaning a storm water drain, exposes GHMC’s callousness. While many workers get down the manholes and drains each year to clean them as part of a pre-monsoon exercise, the GHMC does not have oxygen cylinders, masks, lights or other equipment for their safety. Neither are these men trained to work in manholes and closed storm water drains.
While mayor Moha-mmed Majid Hussain admitted the shortcoming — “unfortunately the Corporation is not equipped,” he said — the remorse would mean little to the wife and family members of 25-year-old Devraj, who lost his life in the mishap. All five cleaners went down the drain without any safety gear. Post-mishap, Mr Hussan said, “I have instructed officials to survey storm-water drains and submit a detailed report. The officials will give an estimate and GHMC will accordingly buy whatever machinery we need.”
Shift to mechanised cleaning, GHMC told
The death of a GHMC-hired worker while cleaning a storm water drain on Thursday has got citizens and activists making a strong case for the GHMC and the Water Board to introduce mechanised cleaning of storm water and sewerage drains.
The Water Board has two dozen Airtech machines to clear choked drains, which are not sufficient. Nor are they able to completely clear the blockage. “But manual cleaning of drains is not the alternative, it is something to be felt asha-med about,” said K. Trideep Nath, a social activist, adding, “Organisations like the GHMC, with an annual budget of over Rs 3,000 crore could certainly introduce mechanised cleaning.”
Bare-chested men entering underground drainage pipes, neck deep in slush, trying to clean choked drains, endanger their lives by inhaling toxic gases. The wage is a meagre Rs 300 per day. About 70 per cent of the city’s sewerage drains are cleaned by men getting down into manholes. They have no protection gear and skin diseases and lung infections are common complaints among them.