Two sanitation workers and a contractor died inside a manhole in Bavla area of Ahmedabad Rural late on Sunday night. The deceased have been identified as Rakesh Patel (private contractor), Raju Vala (worker) and Amit Makwana (worker).
The Bavla Nagarpalika had given the contract to maintain the sewer lines of Bavla to a private contractor identified as Rakesh Patel. Late on Sunday night, in order to clean the sewer line located at Sudarshan crossroads, Patel had reached the spot with four of his workers.
At around 10:30 pm, after routine cleaning operation with jet machines, when one of the workers, Amit, entered the manhole to check whether it was clean or not, he felt dizzy and called out for help. One of the other workers and the contractor, who were waiting outside, jumped in to save him. Unfortunately, they too fell unconscious.
When the other workers noticed the incident, they informed the fire department who arrived at the spot immediately. All three were pulled out of the manhole by firemen and were rushed to a hospital for treatment. However, they were declared dead on arrival by doctors.
A complaint was lodged against the contractor with the Bavla police station under IPC 304 and Atrocity, and further investigation is on.
Inspector N M Chaudhary of Bavla police station said, “We have lodged a case against the contractor and have started an investigation. Primary investigation revealed that one of the workers went into the manhole and became unconscious.
