One more death caused by manual scavenging

Less than five days after the tragic death of four men due to asphyxiation while cleaning a sewerage tank at a hotel Thuraipakkam, Chennai, another similar incident took place in Villupuram. Anthony Raj, a municipal contract labourer, lost his life on Saturday when he was engaged in cleaning an underground drainage at Kakuppam Road. 

The mishap happened when he and another contract labourer Murugadoss were trying to unclog a sewage drainpipe, but unable to escape from the poisonous gas deep inside the sewage. 

Anthony was the first to get into the drain, but he did not come out after some time. On realising that Anthony could possibly be stuck inside, Murugadoss too stepped into the deep drainage and both of them lost consciousness. The Fire and Rescue teams were alerted and they rushed to the site, where they managed to pull both the workers out of the drain and rushed them to the Villupuram government hospital, where doctors declared Anthony Raj was brought dead. Murugadoss had been shifted for further treatment in Government Medical College Hospital, Mundiyampakkam. 

On receiving the tragic news, Anthony’s relatives other contract labourers rushed to government hospital where the body kept for post mortem. Demanding the timely solatium for the victim’s family and proper treatment for Murugadoss, the other labourers formed a blockade. The police and officials have condoled both families and assured of all help and support.