Pimpri-Chinchwad: Chamber That Killed Three Labourers In Nigdi Pradhikaran Belonged To BSNL, Not PCMC, Says Commissioner Shekhar Singh

Nigdi Pradhikaran: Three labourers died in Pimpri-Chinchwad's Nigdi Pradhikaran area on Friday. There were speculations and reports that the inspection chamber inside which they died belonged to Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). PCMC Commissioner Shekhar Singh has clarified in a video statement that neither the chamber nor the workers belonged to PCMC.

Shekhar Singh said, "On Friday, in an unfortunate incident, three workers belonging to BSNL died. They were contractual workers who went to the BSNL chamber for maintenance, but due to poisonous fumes, dirt, and water inside, they died. The Fire Brigade and Police reacted quickly to the spot, recovered their bodies, and took them to nearby Lokmanya Hospital. They were declared brought dead."

Singh continued, "There was a fourth worker who called the emergency services. Fortunately, he survived as he didn’t go in. Since yesterday, some social media accounts are spreading misinformation, saying the chamber and labourers belonged to PCMC. The labourers didn’t belong to PCMC; they didn’t belong to us either on a contract or permanent basis. The chamber wasn’t of the PCMC drainage department but an optical fibre duct chamber of BSNL."

"PCMC follows Supreme Court, Central, and State Government guidelines in cleaning these chambers. 100% of drainage and sewerage lines are cleaned automatically by machines. Neither permanent nor contract labourers are allowed inside. The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act of 2013 doesn’t allow us to do that, and PCMC proudly says we don’t do it. The wrong information spread on social media shouldn’t be done, and that’s why this is a clarification on behalf of PCMC," said the PCMC Chief.

Grieving Across the City on Independence Day

The deceased, identified as Lakshan Asruba Dhaware (age 35, resident of Bijli Nagar), Sahebrao Sambhaji Girshite (age 35, resident of Bijli Nagar, native of Chandrapur), and Dattatraya Vijaykumar Honale (age 35, resident of Walhekarwadi), all died on Independence Day. By the evening, celebrations across the city were replaced with news of this unfortunate incident. Residents expressed sadness.

AD Registered with Nigdi Police

Senior Police Inspector Mahesh Landge, in charge of Nigdi Police Station, said that an Accidental Death (AD) case has been registered at Nigdi Police Station. No crime has been registered against anyone as Honale himself was the contractor. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 1) Sandeep Atole said that BSNL officials will be interrogated, and after post-mortem reports, it will be determined whether to register a crime against anyone or not.