12 March,2022 07:52 AM IST | Mumbai | Prajakta Kasale
Three workers died in the septic tank of a toilet in Kandivli, on Thursday. Pic/Samiullah Khan
After three contract labourers died while cleaning a septic tank of a community toilet in Ekta Nagar area of Kandivli West on Thursday, activists told mid-day that such fatalities are caused because of severe negligence in the construction of tanks, their maintenance and regular inspection by the authorities.
The issue surrounding the cleaning of septic tanks is not just limited to safety equipment, the activists said. The BMC spends crores on construction of toilets, but the network of sewage lines is poor, and design and construction of septic tanks, awareness among labourers, support to community-based organisations (CBOs) are some of the crucial issues that need attention, they added.
Vijayshree Pednekar, an architect who helps design community toilets for women, said, "We cannot say right now what the issue was with the septic tank. But in general, septic tanks are not made as per the standard designs. The effluents (without pollutants) have to be filtered from the tank and sludge accumulated in the tank must be removed frequently. The tanks should be built considering the number of toilet seats and usage, but local contractors construct them without experts' advice."
The public toilet in Ekta Nagar, Kandivli. Pic/Samiullah Khan
She added if the design is not proper, the filtered water is polluted and becomes harmful to the people staying in the periphery. People often complain of a foul smell. "There is no proper mechanism to clean the tanks. Though the BMC has vehicles, they do not come often and community-based organisations/caretakers have to call private labourers to clean the tank," said Supriya Sonar, an activist with Right to Pee.
Less than 50 per cent of the population in slums is connected to sewerage lines. The BMC launched a programme in 2016 to increase the network, but failed. Over 50 per cent of the community toilets depend on septic tanks. "If the network is proper, then the toilets will not depend on septic tanks which will resolve the cleaning issue. Though the BMC spends crores on the construction of the toilets, no one is bothered about maintenance and regular inspection," said Sonar.
Milind Ranade, a labour activist, underlined the fact that the civic corporation does not take responsibility for cleaning tanks, and societies bring workers from nakas who have no idea about gases that are either toxic or explosive.
"There are multiple reasons behind such deaths. Workers are mostly illiterate and unorganised, and from the Dalit community so they have no idea about safety rules and orders of the courts. The entire machinery turns a blind eye. Their dignity, human rights are not of concern till such an accident happens. They are treated as lesser humans," said Ranade. He added that the state and the municipal corporation must take responsibility for providing cleaning solutions and must form a corpus to compensate such victims.
Sonar said they raised the issue of septic tanks in the recent meeting with BMC officials, but no solution to monitor the toilet after completion of construction was arrived upon. Sandhya Nandedkar, assistant commissioner of R-South ward comprising Kandivli, said they didn't get any complaints about the foul smell and the ward office was informed only after the death of the labourers. "We are taking this matter seriously and will initiate action against the CBO concerned."
The community toilets come under the Solid Waste Management Department, whose deputy municipal commissioner Sangita Hasnale did not respond to mid-day's calls and messages.
The Kandivli police on Friday said they arrested three men, including the contractor who fled the scene after the incident, for causing death due to negligence. Three sanitation workers died while cleaning a septic tank of a community toilet in Ekta Nagar on Thursday.
According to the police, the three accused have been identified as Nizamuddin Khan, 50, contractor Krishna Sadan, 49, and Dharamvir Rana, 40. Police officers said Rana had brought the workers - Ganpat Arunduriya, 40, Rauf Alias Baba Sayyed, 50, and Annadurai Valumai, 50, from Trombay and Sadan was also on the site. However, Sadan ran away after realising that they passed out inside the tank after falling into it, they added. Rana was caught on the spot, and Sadan late in the night.
The caretaker organisation opened the tank without following the necessary guidelines. The tank has been found to be about four-five feet empty. An inquiry is underway to probe why it needed to be opened, said Sandhya Nandedkar, assistant commissioner, R-South ward.
The trio have been booked under Sections 304 (causing death by negligence) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC and Section 9 of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. "A court has remanded them in police custody," said Senior Inspector Dinkar Jadhav, Kandivli police station.
Civic officials said the BMC hands over the public toilets to an NGO for maintenance. However, this community toilet in gully 9 of Ekta Nagar was not given to any NGO. The inquiry revealed that Khan, the chairman of New Ekta Welfare Society, had given someone else to run the pay-and-use toilets.
The toilets have now been locked. - Samiullah Khan
The wives of the three men who died in Govandi in December 2019 received R10 lakh each from the state government after they moved Bombay High Court, seeking compensation and rehabilitation as guaranteed in the Prohibition of Employment of Manual Scavengers Act (PEMSA), 2013. This is perhaps the first case in which the state was held accountable for compensating family members of septic tank cleaners, despite the fact that they were killed while working on private contract.
"The bench remarked that the case is âan eye-opener' and directed the Maharashtra government on September 17, 2021, to disburse compensation to the families within four weeks. But the state government didn't. So we again had to move the HC and the vacation bench ordered the state government to disbursed it within seven days or to face contempt of court. On the last day of the deadline, the state disbursed the amount," said Isha Singh, an advocate.
"Even now, labourers' families will get the compensation, but they have to come forward and someone has to help them. Because in our case we had to fight even after the court order."
