Ranit Kr. Singh , Gandhinagarh – Four men, including a supervisor and three labourers, tragically died on Sunday morning after inhaling toxic gas while cleaning a septic tank at a jewellery manufacturing unit in Surat's Ashwini Kumar area. The victims collapsed inside the facility's tank, which collects hazardous chemical waste from the jewellery cleaning process and is routinely maintained every two months. Upon receiving the emergency call, the local fire brigade rushed to the scene, extracted the unconscious men, and rushed them to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared them dead on arrival.

Initial findings indicate that the workers entered the confined space without any mandatory safety equipment or protective gear. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-1) Alok Kumar stated that while toxic asphyxiation is the suspected cause of death, exact details will be confirmed via post-mortem reports. He added that authorities are currently registering a case of accidental death, reviewing CCTV footage to assess protocol violations, and conducting a rigorous investigation to fix accountability on those whose criminal negligence led to this preventable disaster.

This horrific incident highlights a chronic, nationwide failure by authorities to enforce the 2013 ban on manual scavenging and unsafe hazardous cleaning across India. Just months ago, similar toxic choke deaths were reported during septic cleanings in Mumbai and Delhi, highlighting an ongoing enforcement crisis. Despite stringent judicial guidelines and legislative prohibitions, municipal corporations and industrial regulators consistently look the other way, allowing contractors to send vulnerable labourers into lethal, poisonous chambers without basic safety harnesses or gas detectors.