Metro Water engineer loses life trying to rescue worker

C Shivakumar/ R Prince Jebakumar

Chennai:

It was the cries of help that forced joint engineer Venkatraman to jump to the rescue of contract worker Shankar which cost him his life while clearing the blockages in the stretch of Marianayagam Road at Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar near Perambur Paper Mills after midnight.

Metro Water sources said 56-year-old Venkatraman, who had already been transferred to Kodambakkam area office of Metro Water but was not relieved from the divisonal office in Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar, stripped himself off as he saw Shankar gasping for breath.   As he tried to grasp the hand of Shankar who was reaching out for help, Venkatraman was choked by the fumes and fell inside the manhole.

There were allegations that Shankar entered the manhole to clear the blockage manually but Metro Water denied the ellegations. “Shankar did not enter the manhole to  to clear the blockage. He only tripped and fell into the manhole,” Metro Water sources said.

Meanwhile, tributes poured in for Venkatraman, who is survived by wife and daughter. “His valour at the time of duty should be recognized by the top management. It is similar like to that of what our policemen or jawans do while safeguarding the interest of the nation and city,” a senior engineer said.

Tension also prevailed in Kilpauk Hospital over the failure of contractor turning up in time to assure the family of Shankar over compensation amount. Crowd started swelling up with wailing women, children and other contract workers threatening agitation. Later, the issue was sorted out with the contractor agreeing to pay a compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh. His body was later taken away for cremation. Sources said Shankar’s family is entitled to a compensation of Rs 4.5 lakh unofficially.

Later in the evening, Metro Water managing director Apurva Verma paid floral tributes to Venkatraman and consoled the family members. A wreath was placed on behalf of Municipal administration and water supply department secretary Sheela Balakrishnan and municipal administration and rural development minister K P Munnusamy.