As reported by Ajay Khape in expressindia.com on 13 April 2008:
PMC admits 225 conservancy staff died in 24 months - ExpressIndia.Com PMC admits 225 conservancy staff died in 24 months Pune, April 12 It’s official now. By its own admission, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has said that 225 of its conservancy staff died in the 24-month period ending September 2007.
The Indian Express, in the first part of a series of articles on the alarming mortality rate of the PMC conservancy staff, had said that 227 of PMC’s conservancy staff had died prematurely in the preceding 30 months.
In response to the Express article on October 12, 2007 titled ‘In just over two years, 227 Pune civic staff died cleaning the city’s filth,’ the PMC had clarified at that time that the actual number of conservancy staff that had died during a 24-month period ending September 2007 was only 108.
Now, in a reply to a Right to Information (
RTI) query, the PMC health department has admitted that 44 employees had died from October 2005 to March 2006, 144 from April 2006 to March 2007 and 37 from April 2007 to September 2007.
“The PMC needs to further enhance the number of measures for the conservancy staff to improve their working condition as they face occupational hazard,” said activist Vihar Durve, who was furnished the details on deaths of conservancy staff of PMC under
RTI Act.
Union ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment had rushed to the city its joint secretary Dr Arbind Prasad who was critical on the working conditions of the conservancy staff of PMC.
At that time, the PMC had announced an increase in the financial assistance to the kin of deceased conservancy staff - from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1 lakh. The state government had also announced free housing to the conservancy staff of all its municipal corporations.
Durve had sought information on the conservancy staff of PMC involved in sweeping streets, cleaning of open drains, sewerage lines, manholes, storm water drains, engaged in dumping sites, motor loading and unloading of garbage dumping sites, handling of medical waste and working in mortuaries.
The PMC has, over the past six months, initiated many measures to improve the working conditions of the high-risk employees by providing protective gears and other facilities.
It has also introduced mechanised cleaning by way of two sweeping machines to clean up the streets and is all set to hire machine to clean up the city’s manholes.
The last medical check up of the Class III and Class IV was conducted in 2005 and 250 employees were given medical advice and 30 were admitted in hospital for medical treatment, it said. The PMC has decided to maintain health cards of the employees while making medical check-up compulsory every year. It has decided to make the use of safety gear compulsory for its employees.
Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi had constituted a committee to study and recommend improvements for the working conditions of the conservancy staff. The committee, in its findings, pointed out lack of drinking water facility, first aid kits, insufficient toilets at the working site along with the delay in supply of soaps to the conservancy staff.