The owner of a private agency was booked for allegedly not following safety measures while undertaking the cleaning of a septic tank in Powai in Andheri (east), during which two labourers died of suffocation last Wednesday, police said.
The accused, now deceased, had allegedly lowered two labourers into the tank without equipping them with proper safety equipment, thereby endangering their lives, according to the police.
The Powai police registered the first information report (FIR) against the agency’s owner 27-year-old Phulchand Kumar Shaw, who was among the two workers who died of suffocation due to fumes emanating in an underground sewage treatment tank at the Grand Doe building in Hiranandani, Powai on Nov 12, which they were cleaning.
Also Read: 2nd death in STP-tank cleaning incident in Powai, 3rd worker reports inhaling poisonous gases
The other victim who died was Akshay Mandal. The police said that the case was registered based on a statement on Friday from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s engineer Amol Thorat (S Ward, Building and Factory Department). The case was registered under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act.
Police officers said that after Mandal began suffocating, Shaw had jumped inside to rescue him but lost consciousness after inhaling the poisonous gas. The Fire Brigade removed both men and rushed them to Hiranandani hospital, where Akshay died before admission and Shaw died while undergoing treatment.
According to the FIR, two labourers, Akshay and Sudam Mandal, had entered the tank around 11am on Wednesday. Akshay began to feel suffocated and fell unconscious. Sudam managed to exit and alerted Shaw, who then entered the tank to rescue Akshay, but also lost consciousness.
The police found that Shaw had provided reflector jackets, gumboots and helmets to his colleagues but had allegedly lowered Akshay and Sudam Mandal into the tank without proper safety equipment, endangering their lives.