The death of a contract labourer and an engineer while trying to clear a clogged sewer connection at Marianayagam Road sparked off a controversy with police claiming it as a case of manual scavenging, since banned by the Supreme Court.
The Metro Water has, however, denied allegation claiming that the labourer, Shankar, tripped and fell into the manhole.
Police sources told Express that the entire stretch of Marianayagam Road at Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar was clogged. The attempt to clear the clog with vehicles failed on Tuesday and, subsequently, three manholes had to be cleared manually. Tragedy struck when engineer Venkatramanan, along with contract worker Shankar, field worker Kumar and timekeeper Ravi Das, went to clear the fourth hole manually. Shankar got into the manhole to assess the blockage when he was asphyxiated. Venkatraman rushed to help him but he too died.
“It took nearly two hours for the firemen to retrieve the bodies as they had to clear the toxic fumes from the manhole. The incident was reported around 2 to 2.30 am and the bodies were recovered at 4.30 am,” Assistant Commissioner R Vijayaraghavan told Express.
The incident came in the wake of the apex court pulling up the Centre over the delay in enacting a law to ban manual scavenging despite repeated assurances.
More than 15 workers are believed to have died in septic tanks and manholes in Tamil Nadu in the last 18 months.
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