New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has initiated a suo motu inquiry into the death of three workers at a sewage treatment plant in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
The workers were killed while repairing a submersible pump to fix overflowing sewer on June 25, 2024, at the plant of a multinational IT company in Gautam Buddha Nagar.
The NHRC said it has serious concerns about the alleged failure of the authorities to conduct proper supervision and alert the concerned authorities to the risk involved in placing workers in such a hazardous location.
It has demanded that the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh, submit a detailed report to the Commission within one week. The report should have the status of the FIR registered in the case, actions taken against the responsible persons, and relief and rehabilitation measures provided to the families of the deceased workers by the employer and the authorities concerned.
The NHRC has also sought directions to the authorities to ensure that adequate and proper protective/safety gears or equipment are used in all hazardous cleaning activities and that work-friendly and technology-based robotic machines are employed, besides holding the concerned authorities and employers jointly and severally responsible for any sanitary worker’s death while undertaking hazardous cleaning work.