Compensation demanded for kin of deceased sanitation workers

An organisation of labourers Thursday asked the Thane district administration to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each the families of three men, who died of suffocation while cleaning the sewage treatment plant of a housing complex here in May.

A delegation of the Shramik Janata Sangh met deputy collector Bande Patil and reminded him over their memorandum submitted to collector Rajesh Narvekar last month in which they demanded compensation and proper rehabilitation of the families of the three victims.

The Sangh's secretary Jagdish Khairalia, in an official statement, criticised the state government for not being concerned about the welfare of manual scavengers.

"The government should now act and pay the compensation to the kin of the deceased labourers, or else we will launch an agitation," he said.

Three labourers - Amit Puhal (20), Aman Badal (21) and Ajay Bumbak (24) - died of suffocation while cleaning the sewage treatment plant of a housing complex in Kapurbawdi area here on May 9, an official earlier said.