Following the death of two persons on Sunday due to asphyxiation inside an effluent tank of a private dyeing unit in Tiruppur, another person, who was hospitalised after being rescued from the tank, died in the early hours of Monday.
Sources in the Tiruppur City Police said that Rajendran, 55, who was employed as a fitter in the dyeing unit, died during treatment at Government Medical College Hospital in Tiruppur around 2.50 a.m. on Monday.
On Sunday afternoon, he along with the unit’s manager Dinesh Pandian, 28, entered the effluent tank to rescue two workers, Vadivel, 32, and Nagaraj, 48, who were allegedly engaged by the dyeing unit to clean its effluent tanks and had fallen unconscious after inhaling the noxious fumes inside the tank.
While Vadivel and Dinesh Pandian were found dead, Rajendran and Nagaraj were rescued by the fire and rescue services personnel and hospitalised on Sunday evening. Meanwhile, Joint Director – II (Tiruppur), Industrial Safety and Health V. Pugazhenthi, inspected the dyeing unit at Kothukaduthottam in Veerapandi on Monday.
SOP not followed
“As per our preliminary findings, they had engaged five persons from outside to clean [the effluent tank] and did not follow the necessary standard operating procedure,” he said. A detailed report on this incident will be submitted to the Director of Industrial Safety and Health, Chennai, Mr. Pugazhenthi added.
On Sunday evening, the Veerapandi police arrested R. Dhanalakshmi, 48, owner of the dyeing unit. She was booked under Sections 284 (Negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substance), 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304(2) (Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code along with provisions of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act.
