Two missing after falling into waste water treatment tank at BWSSB’s Varthur STP, rescue ops on

BENGALURU: Two people, including an engineer are reported missing after falling into a waste water treatment tank at BWSSB’s sewage treatment plant (STP) at Belagere in Varthur on Thursday evening. While engineer Agilan Mohan, who hails from Tamil Nadu, and staffer Brijesh Kumar from Bihar are missing, another worker, Karthik, was rescued and admitted to a private hospital.

On Friday, the NDRF, SDRF and Fire Department personnel resumed the rescue operation in the 40-foot deep sewage treatment tank after it was called off on Thursday night. Three gates of the treatment plant were under repair and the accident occurred while they had gone down for repairs around 5 pm on Thursday.

The staff drained around 30 feet of sewage water. There are some iron grills inside and the two are suspected to be stuck amid the debris. The BWSSB staff had completely pumped out water from the sewage treatment plant to enable the NDRF personnel to descend into the pond.

An intensive search continues to locate the bodies of the deceased workers Brijesh and Akhilesh and the BWSSB is making all possible efforts and taking all measures on a war footing to quickly retrieve the bodies and improve the situation. Due to toxic gases inside the drainage tank and high water pressure, rescue operations have been severely hampered. Officials have been instructed to complete the operation quickly and retrieve the workers.

To tackle the toxic gas risk inside the tank, National Disaster Response Force experts have been called to the site along with the Fire Department. Before rescue personnel entered the tank, oxygen was pumped into it to remove the toxic gas inside. Immediately after oxygen was filled, NDRF personnel entered the tank and continued the search operation. Senior BWSSB officials are camping at the site, and BWSSB is providing all necessary assistance and medical facilities at the location.

The BWSSB chairman Dr Manjula has ordered a comprehensive inquiry into the tragedy and appointed three officials to investigate the incident and file areport by 12 pm on Saturday. The board chairman was also present at the spot on Friday. She said that a comprehensive investigation into the incident has been ordered and strict action will be taken against those found negligent.