Man cleaning sewer without safety gear dies in Gurgaon, 4th fatality in NCR this week

GURGAON: A 35-year-old man from West Bengal who choked on gases inside a sewer line he was called to clean by a contractor earlier this week died in hospital, the fourth death reported in NCR this week in manual scavenging jobs that people keep being pushed into without the mandatory safety gear.
Three deaths were reported in Noida at the office of an IT company on Monday after three housekeeping workers called to fix an overflowing sewer line fell to death inside the water tank of the sewage treatment plant in the basement.
Noor Islam was called to fix a sewer near a traffic signal in Sector 47 along with two others on Tuesday night, his wife said in a complaint filed at Gurgaon Sadar police station.
"At 7pm on Tuesday, contractor Mukeem Ali, who lives near Kanhai temple, called my husband for sewer cleaning work near the traffic signal in Sector 47. While entering the sewer through the manhole, my husband fell inside it. His co-workers Anrul and Chandan Das immediately got into the sewer and brought him out," Mausumi said in her complaint. She and Noor had come to the city from Balurghat in Bengal and lived near Bengal Market in Sector 49.
Police said Anrul and Chandan also fell ill by the time they brought Noor out. "The three of them were shifted to the nearby Park Hospital by others who were present there. Noor Islam succumbed while undergoing treatment. The two others are out of danger. We believe they inhaled noxious gas formed inside the sewer line," Gurgaon Sadar inspector Arjun Dev said.
Mausumi alleged Mukeem Ali had not provided any safety equipment while sending the trio to clean the sewer and demanded legal proceedings against him for causing her husband's death. Based on her complaint, Mukeem was booked under Section 304 A (causing death due to a rash or negligent act) of the IPC and Section 9 (penalty for engagement of workers for hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks) of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
Police spokesperson Sandeep Kumar said the sewer line comes under GMDA, but Mausumi was not aware which agency he worked for. "Mukeem is a private labour contractor. We are trying to locate him. Once the contractor is arrested, we will get the details," the spokesperson said.
Officials both at MCG and GMDA said that they had not engaged any workers in that area for sewer cleaning.
In the city, this is the third death of a sewer cleaning worker in the past year. Parjeet, 35, of Jhajjar, and Raj Kumar, 46, of Balia in UP, died while cleaning a 15-foot-deep septic tank at a sewage treatment plant in Raheja Navodaya condominium in Sector 92 on Nov 27, 2023. The victims were working for a private agency.
Noor is survived by his wife and two school-going daughters aged 14 and 10. Mousumi works as a domestic helper. "I received a call from Mukeem about Noor's death at 10.45 pm. By the time I reached the hospital, his body was wrapped in white cloth. Mukeem did not even inform his wife, who lives close to the spot. He left the hospital after I reached there," Noor's brother-in-law Rafiq said.