Kolkata: Three workers died today (February 2) at the Bantala Leather Complex near Kolkata after drowning during a sewage and chemical waste cleaning exercise.
The deaths have taken place five days after the Supreme Court ordered a complete ban on manual scavenging and sewage cleaning in six major metropolitan cities including Kolkata.
The three – Farzem Sheikh, Hashi Sheikh and Suman Sardar – are all from the Murshidabad district, originally.
Their deaths and the recovery of their corpses a full four hours after they fell led to tension in the region. Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim, who visited the area, told reporters and locals that those who are responsible for the incident will be punished.
Local media has reported that cleaning work began at 9 am in the morning today. Chemical waste was being cleaned when the pipe broke, causing the three to fall 10 feet. Their bodies were recovered by a team of police, fire services and State Disaster Relief Forces at around 1.30 pm.
It is as yet unclear if the drowning or the exposure to poisonous substances caused the deaths.
Delivering its order, the apex court had said that it was “fed up” with seeking compliance – which remains merely academic in nature,
