[Manual Scavenging] Pay ₹10 Lakh To Kin Of Two Men Who Died In Outer Delhi Sewer: High Court To DDA

The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to pay a sum of Rs. 10 lakhs each to the family of two men, who died due to inhalation of toxic gases inside a sewer in city's Mundka area.

A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad also asked the authority to consider the dependents' claim of compassionate appointment in terms of a 2014 ruling of the Supreme Court in Safai Karamchari Andolan & Ors v. Union Of India.

Directing the DDA to communicate its decision on the appointment within a period of 30 days, the bench clarified that if the said direction is not complied within the specific time frame, the Vice Chairman of the authority shall remain present on November 14, the next date of hearing.

"It is unfortunate that even after 75 years of independence, poor people are forced to work as manual scavengers and the provisions of Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 and Rules frame therein are not being followed," the court said.

The bench noted that in the compliance report filed on behalf of the DDA it has been mentioned that the two deceased workers had expired while cleaning the manhole on their own without any instructions given by the authority.

As per a PTI news report, the two men who died last month were Rohit Chandiliya, who worked as a sweeper at Delhi Development Authority flats and Ashok Kumar, who was a security guard.

The news report stated that while Chandiliya was the first one to go inside the sewer, he fell unconscious after inhaling the toxic gases inside. Thereafter, Kumar went inside the sewer to rescue Chandiliya where he also fell unconscious. The two men were taken to a hospital but were declared brought dead.

Recently, the Centre had informed the Delhi High Court that due to various initiatives brought in by the Government, the number of tragic accidents while cleaning sewers and septic tanks have come down significantly.

The short affidavit was filed by the Central Government through its Department of Social Justice and Empowerment in a PIL filed in 2019 by Advocate Amit Sahni, seeking strict compliance of Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 in order to prevent loss of lives due to manual cleaning of septic tanks and sewers.