Delhi sewer dying: HC directs DDA to pay Rs 10 lakh to households of two sanitation employees

By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to pay Rs 10 lakh every as compensation to the household of two individuals who died after inhaling poisonous gases inside a sewer right here final month.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma remarked that it was unlucky that even after 75 years of Independence, the poor have been compelled to work as handbook scavengers and requested the DDA, beneath whose jurisdiction the incident occurred, to pay the compensation, as mandated beneath the legislation, forthwith.

The bench, additionally comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad added that the DDA shall additionally think about granting compassionate appointment to the household of the deceased individuals and sought the presence of the vice chairman of the authority in case the order will not be complied with until the subsequent date of listening to.

The order was handed on public curiosity litigation (PIL) initiated by the courtroom by itself based mostly on a information report of the incident.

A sweeper and a safety guard died on September 9 in Outer Delhi’s Mundka space after they inhaled poisonous gases inside a sewer.

When the sweeper had gone down to wash the sewer, he fainted and the guard adopted to rescue him and he additionally fell unconscious, the police had stated.

“It is unfortunate that even after 75 years of Independence, poor people are forced to work as manual scavengers and the (laws on the issue) are not being followed,” stated the courtroom.

“As the DDA has prima facie resolved to pay compensation, keeping in view the judgement of the Supreme Court, the DDA is directed to pay Rs 10 lakh each as compensation to the family of the two deceased and also to consider their claim to grant compassionate appointment in terms of the Supreme Court judgement and statutory provisions,” the order ordered.

“The decision shall be communicated to the court in 30 days. It is made clear that if the order is not complied with, vice chairman of DDA shall remain present in court on the next date of hearing,” it added.

The counsel showing for the DDA knowledgeable the courtroom that the deceased was cleansing the drain within the absence of any directions from them and a committee has been fashioned in relation to the incident.

It was added that “not a single DDA official recommended” the deceased to wash the sewer and the work was outsourced.

Asking the DDA to pay the compensation “at the first instance” as per the legislation and never type “committee after committee”, the courtroom noticed that accountability could be determined at a later stage and the authorities have been free to take different authorized motion.

“At the first instance you have to pay. We will decide responsibility later on. Give a job. It happened under your jurisdiction. Take action, file FIR. You know the law,” the courtroom stated.

Amicus Curiae Rajshekhar Rao stated there was a “lack of apathy” on a part of the authorities who have been making an “attempt to distance responsibility”. He stated the “fact is that the staff was DDA’s” and the DDA, was “clearly in the know”.

On the final date of listening to, Delhi authorities counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi had stated that an FIR has already been registered in regards to the incident and the executing company needs to be made liable.

Earlier, the courtroom was knowledgeable by the counsel for the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) that the world the place the incident occurred was beneath DDA and even the sweeper was an worker of DDA.

On September 12, the excessive courtroom had taken suo motu cognisance of the dying of the 2 individuals based mostly on a information report and directed {that a} PIL be registered on the difficulty. The matter can be heard subsequent on November 14.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to pay Rs 10 lakh every as compensation to the household of two individuals who died after inhaling poisonous gases inside a sewer right here final month.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma remarked that it was unlucky that even after 75 years of Independence, the poor have been compelled to work as handbook scavengers and requested the DDA, beneath whose jurisdiction the incident occurred, to pay the compensation, as mandated beneath the legislation, forthwith.

The bench, additionally comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad added that the DDA shall additionally think about granting compassionate appointment to the household of the deceased individuals and sought the presence of the vice chairman of the authority in case the order will not be complied with until the subsequent date of listening to.

The order was handed on public curiosity litigation (PIL) initiated by the courtroom by itself based mostly on a information report of the incident.

A sweeper and a safety guard died on September 9 in Outer Delhi’s Mundka space after they inhaled poisonous gases inside a sewer.

When the sweeper had gone down to wash the sewer, he fainted and the guard adopted to rescue him and he additionally fell unconscious, the police had stated.

“It is unfortunate that even after 75 years of Independence, poor people are forced to work as manual scavengers and the (laws on the issue) are not being followed,” stated the courtroom.

“As the DDA has prima facie resolved to pay compensation, keeping in view the judgement of the Supreme Court, the DDA is directed to pay Rs 10 lakh each as compensation to the family of the two deceased and also to consider their claim to grant compassionate appointment in terms of the Supreme Court judgement and statutory provisions,” the order ordered.

“The decision shall be communicated to the court in 30 days. It is made clear that if the order is not complied with, vice chairman of DDA shall remain present in court on the next date of hearing,” it added.

The counsel showing for the DDA knowledgeable the courtroom that the deceased was cleansing the drain within the absence of any directions from them and a committee has been fashioned in relation to the incident.

It was added that “not a single DDA official recommended” the deceased to wash the sewer and the work was outsourced.

Asking the DDA to pay the compensation “at the first instance” as per the legislation and never type “committee after committee”, the courtroom noticed that accountability could be determined at a later stage and the authorities have been free to take different authorized motion.

“At the first instance you have to pay. We will decide responsibility later on. Give a job. It happened under your jurisdiction. Take action, file FIR. You know the law,” the courtroom stated.

Amicus Curiae Rajshekhar Rao stated there was a “lack of apathy” on a part of the authorities who have been making an “attempt to distance responsibility”. He stated the “fact is that the staff was DDA’s” and the DDA, was “clearly in the know”.

On the final date of listening to, Delhi authorities counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi had stated that an FIR has already been registered in regards to the incident and the executing company needs to be made liable.

Earlier, the courtroom was knowledgeable by the counsel for the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) that the world the place the incident occurred was beneath DDA and even the sweeper was an worker of DDA.

On September 12, the excessive courtroom had taken suo motu cognisance of the dying of the 2 individuals based mostly on a information report and directed {that a} PIL be registered on the difficulty. The matter can be heard subsequent on November 14.