Mumbai: The father of two youngsters who died earlier after falling into a septic tank of a public toilet, also succumbed to his injuries on Saturday. The sudden loss of three members of the family left the kin and neighbours in a state of shock and despair. It has now been revealed that the youngest son of the family was a bright student who had recently appeared for the class 12 board exams.
Meanwhile, the BMC has written a letter to the Malwani police station asking them to carry out a further investigation in the matter as the Community-Based organisation (CBO) did not respond to their notice.
The tragic incident occurred at Malvani Gate no. 8 in the Ambujwadi area in Malad (West) on Thursday evening. The incident had earlier claimed the lives of 18-year-old Suraj Kevat and Vikas Kevat (20 years). As per the local residents, the public toilet was maintained by the Kevat family, for which they would get some fees from the residents.
Since the tank had not been cleaned for a long time, they had decided to clean themselves. On the fateful day, the youngest son, Suraj, was told to clean the tank.
However, when he slipped in, his elder brother Vikas jumped in to save his brother, followed by his father Ramlagan Chotelal Kevat (45 years) and his neighbour Amin Sheikh (17 years). While Suraj died, his brother and father and Sheikh were pulled out by the locals and admitted to Babasaheb Ambedkar hospital in Kandivali.
Vikas also died on the same day, while his father, who was admitted in critical condition, succumbed on Saturday morning. "The family is left with a mother, 16-year-old daughter Kusum and nine-year-old son Krishna. They lost their only breadwinner. Who will now look after them, who will bear the expenses of their education?," said Vaishali Mahadik, a local social worker.
The other neighbour said, "They asked BMC to provide help with cleaning the septic tank. But was demanded to give Rs 5,000 for the work. So, they decided to clean the tank themselves. So, the BMC should take responsibility for this incident and compensate the family. The mother went unconscious after she was informed about the death of her youngest son."
Shubham Kothari of Jan Haq Sangharsh Samiti said, "We had visited the area of the incident, but couldn't meet the family members as they were in a state of shock and were not in condition to talk. If the incident happened as the residents were cleaning the water tank, then the responsibility falls on the BMC as it becomes a case of the structural integrity of the toilet. If they were asked to clean the septic tank by the trust, then it is a clear case of manual scavenging. We will be meeting the ward officials of P North on Tuesday and will demand compensation for the Kevat family."
Meanwhile, the BMC’s investigation report into the incident said, "Three people were cleaning the toilet manually and had entered the septic tank premises. Due to the presence of obnoxious gases inside the septic tank, they were suffocated and found unconscious. They were taken out from the septic tank and moved to Shatabdi hospital."
Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner of P North ward said, "The toilet was maintained by Om Jai Durga Seva Society, a CBO. We had sent a 24- hours show cause notice to the organisation, but did not receive any response from them. A desludging of septic tanks is carried out by a machine, but the CBO had hired workers, which is a violation of the manual scavenging act. Since the organisation was not reachable, we have sent a letter to Malvani police to further investigate the matter."
Chimaji Adhaw, Senior Police Officer, Malvani police station stated, "The deceased individual was maintaining the public toilet tanks on a build and use basis. Initially, borewell water was used, but the latest provision from the BMC required a connection. So, the deceased and his two sons were cleaning the tanks. Post-mortem reports are pending to determine the cause of death. The investigation is ongoing, and the FIR has not been filed yet."
As per India’s manual scavenging act that was passed in 2013, no person or agency can engage or employ any person for manual scavenging. Any person or agency who engages any person for manual scavenging in violation of the provisions of the MS Act, 2013, is punishable under Section 8 of the above Act.
