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New Delhi: The families of the three Dalit workers who died on Friday (June 26) afternoon after inhaling toxic gases while manually cleaning a septic tank located inside Marwah Printers factory in Mundka Industrial Area, have demanded stringent action against the owner and contractor.

The deceased, Arun (38), Sandeep (32) and Chand (40), were residents of Valmiki Basti in Indira Jheel, Sultanpuri. Their families allege that the factory handled toxic material but did not inform the workers of the risks, nor provided them with safety equipment or help rescuing them.

The deaths, which followed another incident just a week earlier in Mundka, sparked immediate protests. The Safai Kamgar Union (SKU) led sanitation workers from Ambedkar University Delhi, Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women, Delhi University and elsewhere in demanding “strict action” against the factory owner, responsible employees and contractor, including registration of cases of homicide against them.

The police have arrested Suraj Marwah, the factory owner, Jayant, an employee, and Neeraj, the labour contractor and owner of the vehicle used for the cleaning work.

Manual scavenging is banned in India, but the practice continues. Ninety people have died across the country just this year – 12 of them in the national capital – while engaged in manual scavenging, according to data supplied by the Safai Karamchari Andolan.

The families of Arun, Sandeep and Chand allege that all three were forced to enter a septic tank and demand action against Marwah........

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