2 die of asphyxiation while cleaning septic tank in Chennai

CHENNAI: Two people engaged to clean a septic tank in a house at Kavangarai in Puzhal were asphyxiated to death on Monday after inhaling noxious gases.

In the last two weeks, four persons were killed due to manual scavenging in and around Chennai. On May 1, two sanitation workers with Minjur town panchayat engaged by a private school in Minjur, near Chennai to clean the sewer tank in their premises died of suspected asphyxiation after which Avadi City Police arrested the school correspondent.

The deceased persons in Monday's incident were identified as Baskaran (52) and Ismail (36), residents of Kondiyamman Nagar in Kavangarai near Puzhal. The deceased along with Ganesan were engaged for work at the house of Nirmala of Gurushanthi Nagar. Nirmala is a widow and she was living off house rent. She had approached Ganesan to clean the septic tank, who had brought Baskaran and Ismail.

Baskaran and Ismail had entered the tank first and were cleaning it when the two of them collapsed. Ganesan who found the men unconscious realised that the duo were hit by noxious gases and alerted the police. Personnel from Puzhal police station and TNFRS (Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services) reached the scene and fished out the two men. They were sent to Government Stanley hospital, where they were declared brought dead. Puzhal Police registered a case and arrested Nirmala. She was booked under section 304 (2) IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act and Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Two days ago, on Saturday, three persons, including the house owner, allegedly died due to asphyxiation while cleaning the septic tank of the house at a village in Srimushnam of Cuddalore district.