Pump operator gets stuck in a sewage pipeline, dies

A pump operator died after being stuck in a pipeline at a sewage treatment station in west Delhi's Keshopur area, police said today.
The deceased, identified as Vinay Sirohi, was a contractual employee with Delhi Jal Board. His body was recovered this afternoon, said a senior police official.
Water minister Kapil Mishra has ordered a probe into the incident and asked officials to submit a report at the earliest.
According to police, Sirohi went inside the pipeline around 11.30 AM yesterday to fix a leakage and accidentally slipped into another connected pipeline.
His body has been sent for postmortem examination and the report is awaited. However, Sirohi is suspected to have died of suffocation.

Sirohi's family registered a missing complaint with the police last night, following which the premise of the sewage treatment plant was thoroughly searched but he could not be traced.

When it came to light that he went inside a pipeline, the police checked the pipeline around 3.30 PM today and Sirohi was found stuck inside. The pipe had to be cut open to pull out his body.
A case has been registered under Section 304A (causing death by negligence) of IPC against unknown person and investigation is underway, said the senior official.
Sirohi lived at west Delhi's Uttam Nagar area with his wife, mother and younger brother.

Preliminary investigation also revealed that he was not wearing any helmet, face mask - to avoid inhalation of poisonous gases like methane and hydrogen sulfide present inside sewage pipelines - or gum boots, police added.