JOIN USDelhi Jal Board’s sewer department workers union which has 3,500 employees feel that the safety gear provided by DJB is insufficient to protect them from the poisonous gases and other health related problems which they catch during cleaning and maintaining sewers in the city.
“We have been given safety belts without which its very risky to go down a drain, which could be anywhere between two-and-half feet to over 20 feet deep.
“We are provided with breathing masks but its limited in number and also they make it difficult to breathe inside the drain. So hardly anyone uses it,” said Ved Prakash Bidla, president of DJB sewer department workers union.
The union members have been asking for a waterproof one piece body suit so that the dirty drainage water does not touch their bodies.
“A committee was set up in 2008 after we filed a case to look into the safety issue.
The sewer department officials came up with plastic uniforms but we rejected them as plastic sticks to the body in water. It was also made of a thin material which tore at places,” said Bidla.
In 2010, the officials came up with waterproof body suits which was also unanimously rejected by the workers and the committee members.
“We are asking for a body suit which is a one-piece and covers our body parts from hands to feet,” he added.
Another member Hargyaan Singh said, helmets and gumboots are provided by the DJB.
“But the water seeps into the boots. We also demanded helmets with lights on them as once we enter a sewer, it gets difficult to see anything,” said Singh.
Between 2000 to 2008, 32 employees had died while cleaning the sewers or due to health problems.
“The drains have all kinds of poisonous gases as the factory and hospital waste mix with the household waste. With such limited saftey gears, our lives are at stake every day,” added Singh.
As per a senior official from DJB, the deep sewers (five feet or more) are cleaned with the help of super suction machines.
“We provide gumboots, gloves and for other necessary safety gears, labour laws are being adhered to,” said the official.
However, Bidla denied saying, “Bringing machines into work is next to impossible. Look at lanes in Sadar Bazar and Chandni Chowk.
They are so narrow that if one worker wants to work, the rest of the lane gets blocked. And many sewers are 25-30 feet deep.”