Three workers died from toxic gas while cleaning a septic tank in Mundka, Delhi; police arrested the factory owner and contractor, raising serious questions about administrative negligence.
New Delhi: A tragic and disturbing incident occurred on Friday in the Mundka Industrial Area of the national capital, Delhi. Three workers who had entered a septic tank at a printing press factory lost their lives while cleaning it. Police took swift action and arrested three people, including the factory owner and contractor.
Initial police investigations revealed that the three workers entered the tank one after the other and died after inhaling the suffocating and toxic gases present within. According to an official, at 12:03 pm, the police, Delhi Fire Service, and Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) received an emergency call about people trapped inside the factory in Mundka.
The deceased have been identified as 38-year-old Arun, 32-year-old Sandeep, and 42-year-old Chand. All three were residents of the Indira Lake area of Sultanpuri. Following the rescue operation, police pulled out the bodies from the tank and sent them to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital for post-mortem to confirm the exact cause of death.
Outer Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Vikram Singh, giving details of the case, said that factory owner Suraj Marwah had hired a contractor named Neeraj, a resident of Nangloi, to clean the septic tank. Police have arrested Suraj Marwah, contractor Neeraj, and factory employee Jayant.
A case has been registered against them under sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). They have also been charged under Section 9 of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, and the stringent provisions of Section 3(1)(j) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Senior government officials say a detailed report will be prepared to ascertain the exact sequence of events and the cause of death. Officials also clarified that the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) is primarily responsible for cleaning septic tanks in the city’s industrial areas.
Following this heartbreaking incident, Bezwada Wilson, national convener of the Safai Karmachari Andolan, met with the families of the victims. He expressed concern that there are approximately 30,000 sanitation workers in Delhi, of whom 10,000 work solely as septic and sewer tank cleaners.
He clarified that no worker should be asked to enter the tank, even with safety equipment, and that the work should be done entirely through mechanized methods. Meanwhile, Sucheta Dey, Vice President of the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), claimed that even government departments are sometimes seen employing manual scavengers without any safety gear.
The incident has also drawn political backlash. Delhi Congress President Devendra Yadav has termed the incident as a result of gross administrative negligence. He has demanded a thorough investigation into the matter and adequate compensation for the destitute families of the deceased.
This is not the first case of deaths during sewer cleaning in the capital. Similar deaths were reported last year in Ashok Vihar, New Friends Colony, and Narela. According to official data shared by the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) in the Lok Sabha in March this year, 62 deaths have occurred in Delhi since 2017 due to hazardous sewer and septic tank cleaning.
The Commission’s data also shows that Delhi was one of the first cities to ban the practice, yet among 22 states and two union territories, Delhi recorded the highest number of complaints related to manual scavenging in 2025, at 140.
Rajan Chaudhary
Courtesy: Hindi News