BMC says it will proceed with FIR against trust who hired the 3 tank cleaners
Photo clipping of report from March 23 to be added here
- Last survivor out of three who fell into a tank inside community toilet was declared dead
- The BMC issued a show cause notice of 24 hours to the Om Jai Durga Seva Society trust
- The corporation stated that the tank was a septic tank
The last survivor out of the three Kevat family members who fell into a tank inside a community toilet in Malad’s Ambujwadi on Thursday was declared dead in the early hours of Saturday; the other two had died on March 21.
The BMC issued a show cause notice of 24 hours to the Om Jai Durga Seva Society trust, which is tasked with the management of this toilet, and will proceed with an FIR for culpable homicide and manual scavenging. The corporation stated that the tank was a septic tank and the trust asked the CBO coordinator Ramlagan Kevat to clean it without adequate safety gear or machinery, amounting to culpable homicide and manual scavenging. “Our contact with the trust was through the coordinator who passed away. We are still trying to trace the trust as they need to be given a chance to explain why police action should not be taken. Now that their 24 hours are over, we will be registering an FIR,” said Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner, P North ward.
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In an earlier report, mid-day flagged the contradiction between the two accounts: that of the police and the locals versus that of the BMC, as the former said it was a water tank and the latter said it was a septic tank. An overwhelming majority of residents said it was a water tank. “It was certainly a water tank. But the fact remains that there was fecal matter found in it. Now the question is whether a septic tank was turned into a water tank or if there was a leakage in the septic tank… This can be a case of manual scavenging as fecal matter was involved, and BMC can be held responsible as the structural integrity of its toilets is their responsibility, as well as ensuring that waste is not handled manually at any cost,” said Shubham Kothari, a member of the Jan Haq Sangharsh Samiti (JHS).
Meanwhile BMC’s Dighavkar said, “I do not wish to comment on BMC’s responsibility at this point before all the facts are understood. But if it was a structural issue then we will rectify it immediately and take appropriate action.”
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