‘No safety gear’: Man dies in sewage chamber after inhaling toxic gas

Ujjain: A sanitation worker died and two others are in the ICU after they were allegedly made to enter a sewage chamber without safety gear and were exposed to toxic gas in Ujjain’s Peepli Naka area on Tuesday.Ashok, son of Bheru and resident of Salakhedi, Alot (Ratlam), had gone down into a chamber to clear a blockage when he slipped, fell and lost consciousness after inhaling the gas. Two other workers, Gopal Dabi and Ramesh Chouhan, went down to rescue him and were also overcome. by the gas.Gopal and Ramesh remain in the district hospital’s ICU.Jiwajiganj police station in-charge Prateek Sharma said the crew, led by supervisor Chandrakant Shukla, had arrived with a jetting machine to clear the blockage.

Shukla, who had gone ahead to check other chambers, returned to find all three unconscious and raised an alarm, Sharma added.SP Pradeep Sharma, passing by at the time, stopped his vehicle and organised the rescue after a crowd had gathered around the chamber.Ujjain Municipal Corporation commissioner Abhilash Mishra, who visited the site, said, “Along with getting the matter investigated, we have given it in writing to the concerned police station for an FIR against the contractual firm.

The workers were also employed by them,” he said, adding that the probe would establish who was responsible on site and why workers were sent in without safety gear.Sharma said statements from Gopal and Ramesh are yet to be recorded, and a case will be registered against the company if negligence is found. An official release said the Ujjain Municipal Corporation has directed a financial help of Rs 30 lakh for Ashok’s family under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.