Yogesh K Porwar
Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Karnataka Fire and Emergency Services,and the police continued search operations on Sunday for a worker who went missing after falling into a sewage treatment plant (STP) at a BWSSB facility in Varthur. Officials fear the worker may have died in the incident.
The missing worker has been identified as Brijesh Kumar,27,a native of Bihar.
The accident occurred between 5 pm and 6 pm on June 18 at the BWSSB-operated STP near Balagere Road.
Based on a complaint lodged by Santosh Kumar, Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) of BWSSB,the Varthur police registered an FIR on June 19 against VA Tech Wabag Ltd under Section 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for acts endangering life or personal safety of others.
According to the FIR,the Chennai-based company had been entrusted with the operation and maintenance of the STP under a five-year contract.
During maintenance work at the rear gate of the wet well’s coarse screen,supervising engineer Agilan Mohan, 30,and worker Brijesh Kumar reportedly fell into the wet well and were swept away by wastewater.Another worker managed to escape.
While Agilan Mohan’s body was recovered during an earlier search operation,Brijesh Kumar remains untraced.
Rescue personnel continued intensive efforts on Sunday to locate him.
The FIR alleges that the work was carried out in violation of BWSSB safety protocols and without adequate safety mechanisms.
It states that the contractor should be held accountable for criminal negligence leading to the incident.
“We have issued a notice to the company.Rescue efforts will continue for now, and further investigation will proceed based on the complaint,”a senior officer said.
The Varthur police are continuing their investigation into the incident.
