Three manual scavenger workers from the Dalit community died after inhaling poisonous gas while trying to clean a seven-foot-long septic tank in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruppur district.
Hari Krishnan (27), Saravanan (30), Venugopal (30), Chinnaswamy (36) and one more worked for a private dyeing factory, Aalaya Dyeing Mills, located in Karaipudur area. On May 19, they entered the tank without any protective gear.
Soon after, Hari Krishnan, Saravanan, Venugopal and Chinnaswamy collapsed and fell unconscious after inhaling toxic methane gas. While Saravanan and Venugopal died while on the way to the hospital, Hari Krishnan breathed his last on May 20.
Chinnaswamy was still fighting for his life. The fifth man, whose identity hasn’t been confirmed officially, survived as he hadn’t yet entered the tank.
The Tiruppur police have registered an FIR against the factory owner Naveen, manager Dhanabal, supervisor Balasubramaniam, and vehicle owner Chinnasamy, under the SC/ST Atrocities Act, sections 125A (endangering life) and 106(1) (causing death by negligence) of the BNS, and section 9 of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, which prohibits the use of human beings for cleaning sewers and septic tanks.
In January this year, the Supreme Court directed an immediate ban on manual scavenging and sewer cleaning services in six metropolitan cities across India. It expressed dissatisfaction with the Union government’s lack of clarity regarding the eradication of manual scavenging and sewer cleaning services, stating that the affidavit filed by them failed to provide sufficient details on the issue.
Seventy-seven percent of manual scavengers are from Scheduled Caste communities.
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