Labourer deaths: Bengal govt announces compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for next of kin

Kolkata: The West Bengal government has announced an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh each for the next of kin of the three labourers who died after falling into a drain while manually cleaning a manhole at Kolkata Leather Complex.

Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim on Sunday said that although the exact cause of the deaths could only be ascertained after the completion of inquiry, it was suspected that the fatalities were due to inhaling of toxic gases in the drain.

"The labourers were working in a KMDA (Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority) drainage network. The work was related to units at the leather complex. But it was not immediately clear how such a large quantity of effluents accumulated at one point of the drainage system," he said.

Three labourers, identified as Farzan Sheikh, Hasi Sheikh and Suman Sardar, died after falling into a drain while clearing a manhole at Kolkata Leather Complex in Bantala area in the eastern suburbs of the city on Sunday.

One of the labourers tripped and fell into the 20-feet-deep drain while clearing the manhole clogged with effluents from the leather units in the area while two others tried to save him but also fell into the drain.

Their bodies were retrieved on Sunday afternoon by the state disaster management, fire brigade and police personnel.

The deaths took place just four days after the Supreme Court ordered a ban on manual scavenging and sewer cleaning in six metropolitan cities including Kolkata.