Sewer men asphyxiated by poisonous gas

Workers were cleaning private sewer lines, WASA denies responsibility

JARANWALA:

Two WASA sewer men were asphyxiated by poisonous gas while cleaning a sewer. The relatives of both deceased protested by blocking the road due to the lack of timely action by the police. Later, the bodies were transferred to the mortuary unit and legal proceedings were started.

According to details, the owner of a private marquee, Altaf hired 25-year-old Asif Masih and 22-year-old Shan Masih near Seamwala Pull on a private basis to clean the marquee's gutters and sewer lines. After agreeing to the terms of employment, the WASA employees were put to work for cleaning duties.

The two sewer men entered the sewer without safety measures, thus they fainted due to poisonous gas and suffocated to death. After observing no movement from both sides of the sewer for a long time, the owners of the marquee informed Rescue 1122. Rescue teams reached the scene and fished the two bodies out of the sewer after a lot of effort.

Meanwhile, the heirs of both deceased also arrived at the scene, protesting against the lack of timely action by the authorities. They blocked the road and chanted slogans fiercely against the police, alleging that SHO Ghulam Muhammadabad Ali Imran Chaudhry is colluding with the owners of the marquee and not registering a case.

SP Lyallpur Town Rana Rehman Qadir, ASP Gulberg Owais Khan and in-charge Sidhopura check post Humayun Warraich reached the spot and assured the protestors of action while talking to the relatives of the deceased, upon which they dispersed. Police shifted the two bodies to Allied Hospital’s mortuary unit for a post-mortem and started legal proceedings.

In this regard, SHO Ghulam Muhammadabad said that it is necessary to have a post-mortem, however, the relatives of the deceased did not want an autopsy.

According to police, the two employees had gone to clean the drain of the same marquee three days ago and when the drain opened, they had told the owner that they would complete the rest of the work when on Sunday.

On the other hand, WASA officials say that during the cleaning on Sargodha Road, the ill-fated employees were working privately for the owners of the marquee. The employees were not given any instructions for cleanliness by the Authority, thus WASA could not be held liable for their deaths. Cleaning any marquee or private location is not part of the responsibility of WASA employees or management, officials said. The marquee owners had personally hired WASA officials for cleaning.