Hyderabad: In the wake of several tragic incidents of sewerage workers while de-silting manholes in the city of late, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) has decided to put an end to the manual cleaning of sewerage and instead, to introduce the machines for clearing sewer overflows in small drainage channels.

Water Board MD M Dana Kishore said that the board always had the required safety equipment for the workers but these were not being used regularly. He directed senior officials to ensure that the sewerage workers make it a regular practice using safety equipment to avoid any tragic or untoward incidents from now onwards.

Referring to the recent tragedy of four contract sewerage workers who died of asphyxiation in a manhole at Madhapur, Dana Kishore said the incident took place just because of the negligence of the contractor in not taking the necessary precautionary measures before getting down to the work.

Water Board conducted a comprehensive training session on Tuesday for sewerage workers on safety measures.

He said from now on, instead of workers, silt grabbers will be procured to remove the silt from manholes. He held a training program for sewerage workers on using the safety equipment and measures in dealing with sewerage problems. The training session was carried out in 12 aspects including the usage of breathing tools, full face mask, general face mask, hand gloves, protective eye glasses, head lamp, radium jacket, Wader suites, etc.

He directed the officials to give the training for the workers who are being contracted for the sewerage works in the city. The meeting also observed two minute silence to pay the homage to the four departed workers at Madhapur.