Manual scavenging deaths: KMC contractor arrested
A contractor was arrested last night for the tragic incident on the outskirts of Kolkata, in which three workers lost their lives while cleaning a manhole at the Bantala Leather Complex.
In a bid to carry out rescue work that involves vacating people from high rise buildings in case of a disaster, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has bought three high lift machines from a foreign construction company while seven more are to be acquired by the civic body for its disaster management team.
The KMC has recently bought the three high lift machines from a multinational company, JCB.
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The lift machine has aerial work platforms and can stretch up to access tall buildings.
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The KMC mayor, Firhad Hakim, said that seven more such machines will be bought soon by the civic body.
A KMC official said that these machines will help in times of disaster management, especially when there is a fire in a building and residents need to be rescued from the top floors of a building. It was further learnt that these lifters will also help in cutting off loose tree branches after a storm to prevent accidents.
Time and again it has been observed that after every storm or thundershower, such branches pose risks to pedestrians while KMC grapples with difficulty to cut off these top branches using the ladders, pointed out the official.
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