The Hindu 14.03.2011
Sewage cleaners register lorries with Corpn.
Staff Reporter
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.
Safety gear has been provided to workers
A few more workers to be brought under insurance cover
