Sanitation workers in hot spots say they are working without safety gear
nNEWDELHI: With Nizamuddin and Dilshad Garden emerging as the Covid-19 hot spots in Delhi, and more quarantine facilities being developed across the city, sanitation workers have raised concerns about their safety.
The Akhil Bhartiya Safai Majdoor Sangh, an association of sanitation workers, has demanded they be provided more effective protective gear, along with regular screenings of sanitation workers and their families.
On Thursday, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) said it will start screening staff deployed in Nizamuddin.
With close around 40-50 sanitation workers deployed in Nizamuddin and a similar number in Dilshad Garden, Sanjay Gehlot, president Akhil Bhartiya Safai Majdoor Sangh, said sanitation employees work at the forefront and, as a result, are prone to be infected with the highly contagious virus.
“The civic bodies should identify those who have worked in hot spots. Such employees and their families should immediately be screened for the coronavirus,” Gehlot said.
A senior SDMC official said the civic body was “concerned” about its workers and all necessary steps would be taken.
“So far, no symptoms of Covid-19 have been observed in sanitation workers. We will screen these workers in two or three days,” the official said.
But sanitation workers said they are not being provided proper protective gear.
“In the name of protective gear, employees have been given substandard masks and gloves. Many are made to work even without these. I have convened several meetings with the authorities of the three municipalities but to no avail,” he said.
Lokesh Kumar, a sanitation employee working in Dilshad Garden, under the East Delhi
Municipal Corporation (EDMC), said authorities have not yet provided him with PPE kits.
“We have been given low quality masks and gloves. These masks become useless within two hours of work, so it is like working without any protection,” Kumar said.
An EDMC spokesperson said that as per standard guidelines, tests for Covid-19 are done only a person displays symptoms. “None of our sanitation staff has shown symptoms, so till now there is no need to conduct Covid-19 tests,” he said.
The official also claimed PPE kits were meant primarily for doctors, paramedic staff other workers engaged in hospitals treating Covid- 19.
The SDMC on Thursday started a drive to sanitise areas neighbouring the markaz. It used drones to spray disinfectants in Nizamuddin East, Nizamuddin Basti and surrounding areas.
The drones conducted 18 rounds, of 20 minutes each, of disinfecting operations, an official said.