Ludhiana Toxic Gas Sewage Tank Father Son Deaths

Three workers, including a father-son duo, died while two others were taken ill after allegedly inhaling toxic fumes following a gas leak during sewage tank cleaning at a tool manufacturing unit in Ludhiana on Monday, police said. The incident occurred at M/S... The incident occurred at M/S Deeps Tools, owned by one Rajdeep Jain, in Industrial Area-A, where the workers had been called to clean sewage, a senior police officer said, adding it is being probed if the management delayed taking victims to the hospital. According to police, the incident occurred around 2.30 am on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, but the factory management did not inform them even till 10 am. Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Jain, who marked a magisterial inquiry into the incident, said that per preliminary information, the workers were cleaning a waste-filled tank and collapsed on inhaling toxic gas. “We have also sought a report from Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) on the nature of the toxic gas and the circumstances under which the work was ongoing in the factory during night,” Jain said. The deceased were identified as Maan Singh, 46, his son Amit, 24, residents of Giaspura, and another worker Shriram. The two undergoing treatment were identified as Deepak Kumar and Rajender Kumar. Police Commissioner Swapan Sharma said an FIR for culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been registered at Moti Nagar police station against the factory management on the complaint of Ram Lal, father of Maan Singh. According to the FIR, Ram Lal, 71, in his statement told police from past some days, Maan and Amit both were getting calls from Deeps Tools to clean silt in their chemical-laden tanks (two tanks of 10,000 liters each). He said that his son and grandson refused to do the job, adding that the hazardous waste in hand tool factories is professionally handled and cleaned by Mohali based firm. “However, the factories in Ludhiana, to save money, hire local workers to handle hazardous waste. They make them dump the waste in sewage lines,” said Ram Lal in his statement. He added that his son and grandson again received a call from the factory on Sunday and left home around 9.30 pm. “When they did not return home till morning, we reached the factory around 7.30am. We got to know that my son, grandson and 3-4 other workers were made to clean the chemical laden taken without any safety kit…My son and grandson died and 2-3 others got unconscious. It all happened due to extreme negligence of the factory management,” he added. ACP (Industrial Area-A) Inderjit Singh Boparai said, “The workers were called in to clean the waste disposal tank of the electroplating unit inside the factory. They started cleaning the chemical-laden tank manually and not provided any protective gear. They lacked the skill and training to handle chemical-laden waste.” Maan Singh’s uncle Jagdish Singh said the factory management did not inform them about the incident. “It was only after we reached the factory at