Manhole deaths: Action against six officials in Hyderabad

While instructions were given to suspend three officials, the GHMC Commissioner was asked to issue a show cause notice to the other three

Hyderabad: Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar instructed Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner DS Lokesh Kumar to take action against six officials following the death of two workers in a sewage line cleaning incident on Tuesday night.

While instructions were given to suspend three officials, the GHMC Commissioner was asked to issue a show cause notice to the other three. One worker who was deployed to clean a sewerage line died and another one went missing in a manhole in LB Nagar zone.

Lokesh Kumar was instructed to place an assistant engineer and two work inspectors under immediate suspension. According to a memo dated August 6, the three officials were being suspended as the works were taken up at night which was against the established guidelines.
Three others – a superintending engineer, executive engineer and a deputy engineer are to be issued show cause notice citing that the works were done at night and proper precautions as well as safety norms were not followed.

Meanwhile, efforts are still on to retrieve Ananthiah’s body. The GHMC’s Disaster Response Force has pressed into service three boats, four teams and over 250 workers as part of the operations.