New Delhi: The NHRC has issued notices to the Haryana government, a local body and a senior police official over a report that one person had died and three others suffered health complications while cleaning a sewage tank in Palwal district, officials said on Tuesday.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in a statement said the incident happened on April 9, and the sewage tank cleaning was being carried out by the municipal council through a private company, which had further given a sub-contract to another company. Reportedly, the workers were "not provided safety gears equipment" by the contractor, it said. The NHRC said it has "taken a suo motu cognisance of a media report that one person died and three others were admitted to a hospital in a serious condition", after suffering health complications while cleaning a sewage tank in Palwal district of Haryana.
The Commission has issued notices to the Haryana chief secretary, the chairman of the municipal council and the Superintendent of Police, Palwal, seeking a detailed report within six weeks. The report is expected to include the present health status of the three injured workers and the relief or rehabilitation provided to the aggrieved families, it said.
The NHRC has observed that "a large number of people have died within a short span of time while undertaking the sewage/septic tank cleaning work. It has been taking cognisance of such matters for quite some time now, and trying its best to sensitise the authorities to take all precautions during the time of cleaning of the sewage tanks so that precious human lives are not lost due to negligence".
It has further observed that in spite of specific judgments given by the Supreme Court and guidelines issued from time to time by different government agencies, the sewage cleaning workers are "still being exposed to extreme danger and subjected to indignity by the public authorities".