Many Dreams Lost In Hole Of Shame

New Delhi: Vijay Mochi, who lost his life while cleaning a sewer in Outer Delhi's Narela on Friday, worked tirelessly for six to seven years to fund his children's education in Bihar.
Alongside his wife, Vijay worked as a labourer at a construction site developed by a private company. His primary responsibility was cutting iron rods using machines.
Mithilesh, his brother, who also works at the same residential building site, said he was elsewhere when the death happened. "I came to know that he went inside a chamber after he was told to go inside. He inhaled the gas and collapsed," he said. He mentioned that his brother was not given any protective equipment before entering the sewer.
Vijay lived in a labour camp with his wife, Poonam, and younger brother at the construction site. His children, a 12-year-old son and daughter, are with their grandparents in Begusarai.
Vijay worked eight-hour shifts, earning Rs 12,000 a month, half of which he sent to his children. "His dream was to ensure that his children became educated, and they were in Class 4 and 3," he added. When Vijay died, Poonam was working at another site.
"A few days before the incident, his mobile phone was also stolen," Mithilesh said. His relatives did not know how he went inside the sewer or how he was taken out.
A senior police officer said the construction site, where the death happened, belonged to DDA, but the maintenance contract was with a private firm.
DDA said that the deaths at Narela Pocket 6 were "unfortunate, painful and our heart goes out to the families of the deceased. DDA will ensure that the families are adequately compensated". "The said pocket is being developed by an agency, which is also responsible for maintenance of STP and sewer as per contract and any liability would be its sole responsibility. Detailed report is being sought about the incident and based on it, if any discrepancy/negligence is found, action shall be taken," a DDA official said in a statement.
Nandu, the second deceased, used to live with his wife and two children in the labour camp. A resident of Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh, Nandu's untimely death has left his family in distress. Gyasiram, his brother, said he had worked in the city for 12 years and that Nandu and his wife were working on the same site. "He wanted to educate his two kids," he said.
Another officer said that Vijay and Nandu went inside, and when supervisor Anil Kumar (37) didn't get any response, he went inside to check and became unconscious. The other people at the spot were alarmed and, with the help of ropes, took out the victims and rushed them to a hospital, where two of them were declared brought dead. The incident occurred at Pocket 6, near an apartment complex in Narela.
Police have added a section of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act to the case, and they will send notices to officials of the private firm under whom the deceased were employed.