The Executive Officer (E.O) and the sanitary supervisor of the Chengam town panchayat in Tiruvannamalai district on Thursday, were issued with show-cause notices by the Assistant Director In-charge, Directorate of Town Panchayats (Vellore region), after a sanitary worker cleaned an open sewage drain in the town, with his bare hands a day ago, on Wednesday, July 19, 2023.
The show-cause notices seek a written explanation from the concerned officials within three days, failing which further action will be taken against them. The executive officer in-charge, S. Uma Maheshwari, and the sanitary supervisor A. Srinivasan, received the notices from the Directorate of Town Panchayats.
“We have sought a detailed report from the officials of the town panchayat for not monitoring such desilting work in clogged drains done by sanitary workers,” C. Hamsa, Assistant Director In-charge, Directorate of Town Panchayat (Vellore region), told The Hindu.
Panchayat officials said that on Wednesday, a sanitary worker got down into the open sewage channel, and, with his bare hands removed a stone that was blocking the flow of sewage in the drain on Quaide Milleth street in the town.
Sanitary supervisor Mr. Srinivasan is said to have asked the workers to wear safety gear such as gloves and boots supplied to him, but the worker allegedly refused, saying that it would not be convenient to do so, while cleaning the drain. Panchayat officials said that residents on Quaide Milleth street have been complaining to the panchayat about the clogged drain for more than week, following which the worker was engaged to clean the drain.
A video of the worker cleaning the drain later went viral on social media platforms, sparking outrage among the public.
Spread around 8 sq km, Chengam town panchayat has 18 wards with over 50,000 residents. At present, 65 sanitary workers including contract workers from Self Help Groups (SHGs) are involved in sanitary work, including garbage collection and desilting of drains, covering 108 streets in the town.
Following the incident, a circular has been issued to all town panchayats in Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur and Tiruvannamalai districts to adhere to norms under the Septage Management Regulations and Operative Guidelines 2023 of the State government.
