Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh and job to a member of the families of the three workers who died while cleaning a sewer pipe in Lajpat Nagar.
He also directed the Delhi Jal Board CEO to file an interim report within 48 hours.
Kejriwal announced the compensation after meeting the family members of the victims -- Joginder (32), Annu (28) and Mohan (25).
He said a high-power committee will be constituted to prevent such incidents in future.
The DJB will present its final report over the incident within a week.
"Each affected family will be given the compensation of Rs 10 lakh. One member of the families will be provided job (Civil Defence) by the government," Kejriwal said.
In a note to the DJB CEO, the chief minister said, "DJB cannot escape its responsibility. It was a DJB sewer. These labourers were cleaning the sewer on the order of a contractor. There should not be any attempt to cover up the incident. Those trying to cover up will also make themselves liable for criminal action."
The issue was also raised in the ongoing session of the Delhi Assembly, where Water Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said that government was framing new parameters so that there was no such incident in future.
Under new parameters, the responsibility of the officers and contractors concerned will be fixed, he said.
The three workers died allegedly after inhaling toxic gas during cleaning of the swerline in Lajpat Nagar on July 6.
Kejriwal said that the Lajpat Nagar deaths were the second such incident within a month and the high-powered committee will go into the reasons behind them and suggest corrective steps. Four people had died while cleaning a septic tank in Ghitorni last month.
"I asked the DJB CEO, he said no contract was given for cleaning of the drain and who was the contractor. The enquiry will reveal it. I can only assure that the guilty will be given stringent punishment," Kejriwal told reporters after meeting the victims' family members.
He said that the government will take "strict action" against manual cleaning of sewerlines as it is "illegal".
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