Kolkata, March 5 – A manual scavenger died on Thursday while cleaning a manhole in Ward No. 12 of the Serampore Municipality in the Hooghly district of West Bengal. Two other workers also fell sick while working inside the same manhole.
Following information that three workers had fallen ill while working in the manhole, firefighters and local residents rushed to the scene, rescued them, and took them to the Serampore Walsh Hospital.
One of them was declared dead by doctors at the hospital. The deceased, Sheikh Mustafa, was 34 years old. The other two workers are currently receiving treatment at the hospital.
Local residents said that work related to the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) water project was underway in the underground sewer at Ram-Sita Lane in Serampore.
Several workers employed by a contractor were cleaning the manhole as part of the project work.
According to the police, one worker first fell ill while working inside the manhole on Thursday. Two other workers also fell ill while trying to rescue him.
“All three workers were rescued and taken to the Serampore Walsh Hospital. However, one of them was declared dead on arrival. The other two are currently receiving treatment there,” said a senior officer of the Chandannagar Police Commissionerate.
Serampore Municipality Chairman Giridhari Saha said that work related to a KMDA project was being carried out in the municipal area.
“Three contract workers fell ill during the work. The death of one person is extremely tragic. The deceased’s house is in the Maheshtala police station area in South 24 Parganas district,” Saha said.
According to him, special precautions will be taken to prevent such accidents in the future, following Thursday’s incident.
He said that steps will be taken to ensure that workers do not get trapped inside manholes and that they can be quickly rescued if they fall sick during the work.
“It is our responsibility to ensure proper safety for these workers during work that requires them to go down into manholes. Therefore, a decision has been taken to use strong ropes and other safety equipment so that they can come out quickly if they feel unwell,” a Serampore Municipality official said.
