The Hindu         14.03.2011

Sewage cleaners register lorries with Corpn.

As mandated by the Coimbatore Corporation, 34 persons who operate sewage cleaning lorries in the city have registered with the civic body by providing the necessary details.

The civic body asked the lorry owners to do so after three persons lost their lives due to asphyxiation while cleaning septic tank at a private hotel on Avanashi Road in February.

Soon after the incident, Commissioner Anshul Mishra made it mandatory for the lorry owners to register with Corporation, provide safety equipment to the workers engaged in cleaning the tanks and also give them insurance cover.

Enquiries with the Corporation health wing officials revealed all the 34 people who operate the 43 lorries in the city had completed the registration process.

Those operators had also provided safety gear to the workers, extended the insurance cover and submitted the proof for doing so by furnishing copies of the bill and insurance policy.

A few more workers, including lorry drivers, needed to be brought under the insurance cover and the process was on. The work was expected to be completed by Tuesday.

Soon after the February 22 incident, the Corporation said all those engaged in cleaning lorries should comply with the provisions of the Employment of Manual Scavengers And Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, and not let people enter septic tanks.

S. Shankara Narayanan, president, Coimbatore District Sewage Lorry Transport Owners' Association, said all their members had registered with the Corporation and agreed to comply with the rules.

But there were lorry owners from other districts who operated their vehicles in the city without following the rules.

He said he had requested the Corporation authorities to ensure that they were not allowed to work in Corporation limits without adhering to the rules.