Contractor arrested after 3 workers die in Dombivli sewer

KALYAN: The contractor hired by MIDC to provide workers for sewage cleaning work in Kalyan and

Dombivli

was arrested on Saturday after two workers died due to suffocation. The workers had got down into a sewerage line in Dombivli on Friday but never came back. Other workers immediately called the fire brigade and the bodies of the trio were fished out.


The police said that the contractor, Laxman Chavan, did not provide the workers with safety equipment due to which they suffocated and died. The police registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against Chavan and produced him at Kalyan sessions court. Chavan has been remanded in police custody for two days.

The police said that they are also investigating the roles of MIDC officials and the terms and conditions that were put in the contract awarded to Chavan.

Sanjay Sawant, senior inspector at Tilak Nagar police station, said, "

Prima facie

, we found negligence on part of the contractor. Chavan should have provided safety equipment like masks and oxygen cylinder to the workers while entering the sewage line. We are also probing the roles of others, including MIDC officials. If anyone else is found responsible for the deaths, we will take action against them."

The police have asked the MIDC to hand over the contract drawn with Chavan's firm for sewage cleaning. A source said that Chavan had been taking up MIDC's sewage cleaning contracts for 15 years now.

On Saturday, families of two of the victims-Devidas Panjage and Mahadev Jhape-claimed their bodies while the body of the third deceased, Chandrabhan, lay unclaimed. The police said Chandrabhan, a daily-wage labourer, lived alone nearby. All the three victims were in their 30s.

Panjage and Jhape were the only earning members and with their deaths, their families now face an uncertain future. Panjage had been working with Chavan's firm for 15 years but drew a salary of only Rs 3,000 per month. Jhape was a daily-wage labourer.

Panjage's wife, Sunita, told TOI: "I do not know how I will run the house; I have three children to look after. My husband wanted to provide education to our son, it looks impossible now." The families have demanded compensation or jobs.


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