NHRC issues notice to Maha govt, DGP over death of 4 workers during sewage cleaning

NHRC issues notice to Maha govt, DGP over death of 4 workers during sewage cleaning

The NHRC has sent a notice to the Maharashtra government and the state police chief over reports of death of four people while they were cleaning a sewage treatment plant allegedly without any protective gear in Mumbai.

In a statement on Saturday, the National Human Rights Commission said it has sought a report, which should include the status of the implementation of the Supreme Court guidelines and NHRC advisory about the hazardous cleaning, within four weeks.

The NHRC has taken ''suo motu cognisance of a media report that four persons, all aged about 20 years, died of suffocation after inhaling toxic gases while cleaning a private sewage treatment plant in a residential township in Virar area,'' it said.

According to Commission, the preliminary investigation has revealed that the workers, all of them residents of Vasai area, had ''entered the sewage plant without any safety gear.'' The Commission said that the content of the media report, if true, amount to a violation of human rights.

''The negligence on the part of the contractor in the instant case is apparent that the victims were deputed to execute such a hazardous work without any safety precautions, violating the law and the prescribed norms as well as the NHRC advisory,'' the statement said.

It is the duty of the state authorities to spread awareness among the common people about the danger of hazardous cleaning without using safety gears or equipment, the rights body said.

The Commission has issued notices to the chief secretary and the director general of police of Maharashtra seeking a detailed report.

The report should include action taken against the guilty and the status of compensation if any, paid to the next of kin of the deceased, the statement said.

According to media reports, carried on April 10, all four youths were rushed to a hospital where they were declared brought dead.

Two other workers, who went near the plant to look for the four, also complained of uneasiness and needed treatment, the reports said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)