New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday took suo motu cognizance of media reports that two labourers had died and three are battling for life after they entered an unauthorised septic tank at an under-construction house in Rohini a day earlier.
The labourers had initially refused to clean the tank as they were not trained, but the house owner and the mason forced them to do it on the ground their wages for three days would be deducted.
The NHRC has issued notices to the chief secretary of the Delhi government and the Commissioner of Delhi Police and has sought a detailed report within six weeks. The panel has also asked the Delhi government to inform whether it had issued any guidelines prohibiting unauthorised construction and cleaning of septic tanks and, if so, why its strict compliance was not being ensured. It has directed the government to chalk out appropriate instructions to deal with the issue and inform the panel.
The NHRC observed that multiple reasons could have led to the deaths of the two labourers. Had the septic tank not been constructed in an unauthorised manner and had the labourers not been forced to go inside without any safety gear or training, they could have been saved, it said.
The five men who entered the tank were rushed to a hospital after they fainted. Deepak Lambu (30) and Ganesh Saha (35) were declared dead on arrival. Rambir (33), Sher Singh (40) and Babloo (40) are under treatment, but the latter's condition remains critical.
A case was registered and a probe is underway. A crime and forensics team had also visited the incident spot.
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