Metal bin on garbage truck comes loose, kills worker

According to E Pugalendhi, Organiser of the Democratic Sanitary Workers Centre, the incident took place at around 6.45 am on Wednesday. “Sanitary workers present at the spot said that the trash bin, fitted with a clamp and chain was lifted and on the supervisor’s instruction, Ramesh was cleaning the portion below the bin. Suddenly, it fell on him and the youth who suffered multiple injuries battled for his life for about five minutes before dying on the spot,” he said. 

State coordinator of Tamil Nadu Sanitary Workers Union, Ravikumar, and leaders of various unions and sanitary workers picketed the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital where Ramesh’s body was kept. Sanitary workers also alleged lack of safety measures had resulted in the fatal accident. They sought stringent legal action against the supervisor, contractor and vehicle operator, stating that their negligence cost the victim his life. They also demanded a compensation of Rs.10 lakh for the victim’s family and a government job for one of the deceased man’s family members. They refused to collect his body till their demands were met.

Ramesh worked in a gold smithy before he got the contract job in the Corporation. He lived with his mother S Muthammal (58) a widow. 

The Traffic Investigation Wing (TIW) West of the Coimbatore City Police booked lorry driver cum operator Praveen Kumar under section 304(A) (causing death due to negligence) of the Indian Penal Code after arresting him. Investigations were underway to identify if the incident was due to mechanical snag or manual error.

City Health Officer (CHO) of Coimbatore Corporation K. Santhoshkumar said they held talks with the victim’s family and trade unions and agreed to give a family member a contract job in the local body as the victim was a contract labourer. “But they were demanding a government job, which we cannot assure,” he said.