HYDERABAD: In the wake of the death of two labourers in a manhole on Sunday, the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday took up a suo motu case where the bench would inquire the municipal authorities on the maintenance of manholes in Hyderabad and also about the police failing to act on time.
Two labourers, Veeraswamy and S Kotaiah, suffocated to death while trying to clear a clogged sewer line near Kapadia Lane in the Sultan Bazar area of the city on Sunday. They were reportedly hired by some unknown persons to clear the drainage and they died soon after descending into the manhole due to suffocation caused by poisonous gases.
Veeraswamy and Kotaiah, who hailed from Mahbubnagar district came to Hyderabad in search of livelihood and were working as adda coolies.
Kotaiah first got into the manhole to clean it. When he did not return, Veeraswamy got down into the manhole and he too was caught in a poisonous gas trap inside the manhole. It later turned out that both of them had died due to suffocation. The details of the persons who engaged them are not yet known.
Locals alleged that though the police and the ‘108’ emergency service personnel reached the spot; they did not make any efforts to retrieve the bodies from the manhole immediately.
The Hyderabad high court on Tuesday took up a suo motu case. A vacation bench, comprising justices A Rajasheker Reddy and A Shankar Narayana, will hear the case on Thursday.
Principal Secretaries of MAUD (Municipal Administration and Urban Development) and labour, GHMC commissioner, HMWSSB managing director, along with police commissioners of Hyderabad and Cyberabad and their ACP and SHO of Sultan Bazaar have been named as respondents by the Court.
The bench is also likely to question the municipal authorities about the way manholes in the city are maintained and handled. The inaction of the police in responding to the emergency with the required sense of urgency is also likely to come under scanner.