The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to file a criminal case against the corporation commissioners involved in the deaths while cleaning the sewers and clarified that arrests will be made.
In Tamil Nadu, a case was filed in the Madras High Court seeking an injunction restraining people from descending on sewers and septic tanks and providing adequate compensation to workers who died due to poisonous gas during the cleaning process. The last time the case came up for hearing, local bodies were ordered to report on whether the work of hiring people to clean the sewers was being done by contractors.
When the case came up for hearing again on Tuesday in a session chaired by Chief Justice Sanjeev Banerjee, the Tamil Nadu government said it had sought details from various corporations and municipalities and should be given an opportunity to compile the details and file a report.
The petitioner contended that no charges have been filed in the incidents and cases related to the victim of poison gas attack while cleaning the sewers and no compensation has been paid to many of the relatives of the victims. Further, an additional petition was filed on behalf of the petitioner stating that as of February 2021, six deaths had occurred. The judges, who were dissatisfied with the government’s failure to file a report, said the case had been pending since 2017, and that the inhumane practice of men going down and cleaning sewers should be stopped.
The judges said it was time for the corporation and the municipal commissioners to be held accountable for the deaths caused by human involvement in sewers and septic tanks. The commissioners also ordered the government to clarify. The judges also adjourned the hearing for three weeks, ordering the secretary of the municipal administration and drinking water supply department to file a report on the steps taken to stop the practice of landing people in the sewers and to expedite the investigation of cases related to deaths.
Further, the judges ordered to ensure that the relatives of the victim workers were given proper compensation and to file a report to that effect.
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