On 28 July, 3 workers Rohit Jadhav (18), Vijay Chavda (19) and Adam Sama (24) died due to electrocution while 2 others sustained serious injuries while putting up an electric pole. The workers were employed under contract by Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Ltd. (PGVCL).
On 31 July, Sanjay Kumar Singh (45) employed as a lineman in the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation was electrocuted to death while replacing a damaged underground wire in Sector 142, Noida, Uttar Pradesh. An FIR has been lodged by the Surajpur police station against the power corporation, as the worker was not provided any safety gear, although the equipment was available with the corporation.
Construction
3 migrant construction workers Rakesh Kumar (32), Satranjan(32) and Manoj Kumar (26) died due to electrocution after they came into contact with high-voltage wires on 8 July in Mayapuri Colony in Ludhiana, Punjab.
Workers had refused to work at the site as High voltage electric cables ran across the under-construction building. Police has filed an FIR against house owner Raju Lemon under IPC section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against the employer Raju Lemon.
On 7 July, 2 migrant construction workers from Bihar, Sajid (22) and Javed (27) died after falling from the 7th floor of an under-construction building of the Gaur City Seventh Avenue (GC-7) site owned by Gaursons in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The workers fell into a lift shaft which had no protective covering or warning sign.
On 25 July, Venkatesh (45), a painter died when a lift collapsed on top of him at Rajeshwari Apartments in Malleshwaram, Bengaluru. The police have registered a case of death caused by negligence under Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code against the employer.
Manufacturing
On 12 July, 6 workers K Manoj Kumar (24), B Ranganath (21), SM Wasim Basha (26), K Siva Maddileti (26), K Yugandhar (37) and G Guruvaiah (45) died due to asphyxiation and 4 other workers were severely injured, when they inhaled poisonous gas that leaked from a rolling furnace at the Brazilian Steel giant Gerdau GM at Tadipatri of Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh. The company is infamous for health and safety lapses, in 2017, ten workers were killed at Gerdau’s Ouro Branco plant in Brazil.
On 30 July, 3 workers Ashish (24), Bhajanlal (40) and Harun asphyxiated to death, following a gas leakage at a tarpaulin dyeing factory, Durga International Factory in Singrosi, Unnao, Uttar Pradesh. The workers inhaled toxic gases emitted from a dye mixing tank while repairing the nozzle of a 20 feet tank where tirplas were dried. 2 others Hariram and Akhilesh were hospitalised in a critical condition.
On 19 July, 3 workers Jogendra (22), Guddu (18) and Ajay (26) died of suffocation after inhaling toxic fumes emitted from a septic tank filled with animal remains that they had stepped down to clean in Alipura, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. 3 other workers were hospitalised under under critical condition. The company Al Yasir Export Pvt Ltd. is owned by brother of former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Haji Shahid Akhlaq. Police has arrested the owner and manager of the company under Section 302 (murder) of IPC.
Sanitation:
On 10 July, S Subramani (40) a contract sanitation worker employed by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) committed suicide facing severe financial problems as he was not paid wages since January 2018.
Subramani has been a contract worker with BBMP for the last 18 years. Around 7000 workers have not been paid their wages in Bengaluru. No case against the contractor or against BBMP have been registered.
On 8 July, Roshan Lal (45) a cleaner, Mahesh (28) a pump operator and Bulbul (26), choked to death while cleaning a 40 feet deep sewage tank due to lack of oxygen at Dabur Talaab Colony, Loni, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. The sewage treatment plant owned by the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam has been contracted out for maintenance to a private company Envirocon Engineering Company. No safety equipment or training was provided to the workers.
The UP Jal Nigam has lodged a FIR against Envirocon Engineering with charges for violation of The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. 4 Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam officials, project manager SP Singh, assistant engineers Rameshwer Dayal and Anil Verma, and junior engineer Kapil Kumar have been suspended for the lack of vigilance in enforcing the safety guidelines stated in the contract.
