Delhi govt bans cleaning work by men after sewage mishap

Delhi Government's Water Department is likely to review the guidelines regarding the employment of sewage workers and also to decide on guidelines soon. These guidelines will make it mandatory that sewage cleaning should be done through machines and not by men.

"We will strictly prohibit sewage cleaning by men. We have very good infrastructure and we will use machines to clean sewage," said Rajendra Pal Gautam, the Water Minister of Delhi.

The day when death of three sewage workers was reported from Lajpat Nagar, Gautam set up an inquiry on the issue. Gautam along with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited the houses of the deceased workers on Tuesday. The Minister is likely to come up with a new set of guidelines. He has also directed the members of Delhi Jal Board to strictly follow these instructions.

"There was no information to the Jal Boards that these people are working," he said. The Minister will also ask officials to ban employment of manual labourers by people without notifying the department. Gautam also said that in the guideline, it will be very clear that if in any case a labourer is appointed to clean sewage then he should take proper protection measures and carry equipment to clean.

According to the Minister, the department will ensure that no workers proceed to clean sewage without these equipment.

The department is likely to take strict actions against the private contractors who use these poor people to do the works without providing any safety equipment and without informing the government.

"These private contractors are playing with life of poor people and it is happening all over India," Gautam said.

As per the new guideline, the Department will ensure that if at any place such works are going on, then trained engineers of the DJB should be present there. "The trained engineers will be present at the spot and ensure that every safety measures are being taken for the workers," he said. Commenting on the recent incident, Gautam said that the department is trying to find out the people responsible for the incident and no one would be spared if they were found guilty.