Conservancy workers’ unions demand revised summer work hours after man dies on duty in Madurai

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Akhila Easwaran

A 55-year-old conservancy worker, identified as Manivel, of Adi Dravidar Colony in Naganakulam, Madurai, died on Sunday (April 28, 2025) as he was clearing garbage.

Manivel reportedly fainted due to the heat while removing garbage from a locality in Ward 5 of Madurai Corporation, and in the process, hit his head on a stone. He suffered a head injury and was rushed to Government Rajaji Hospital, where doctors declared him ‘brought dead’. The temperature at the time of the incident was 39.5 degrees Celsius.

As news of the incident spread, officer-bearers of workers’ unions appealed to the authorities concerned to consider changing their work hours until the end of summer.

Change in work timings

Speaking to The Hindu on Monday, Balasubramanian of the CITU said that while the civic body was willing to advance the starting time to 6 a.m. instead of 7 a.m., the workers felt it was too early, as they might not be able to complete their domestic chores at home.

The workers’ unions had given insurance cover to all conservancy workers, and in the event of death due to an accident while at work, their legal heir would get ₹5 lakh, Mr. Balasubramanian said.

The workers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the civic body should immediately address the issue of staff shortage and provide potable water and glucose or buttermilk to workers until the end of summer, similar to how traffic police personnel are supplied lemon juice by their department.

‘No special duty’

The workers, affiliated with CITU, further said they were ready to work from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and not after that, until the end of summer. They wanted the civic authorities not to give them special duty, such as mass cleaning or VIP duty, during the summer season. The corporation should recruit workers who could be assigned mass cleaning and other duties, they said.

With the Chithirai festival round the corner, conservancy workers said the authorities have proposed deploying different groups of workers for festival duty. As a result, the routine task of clearing waste across the wards is likely to be affected. At a time when workers have been pleading for new recruitment, this additional burden could lead to fatigue, they added.

A senior official of the Madurai Corporation said that conservancy workers are being provided with equipment for clearing bulk waste. They also receive revised allowances for special duty. Additionally, new vehicles have been deployed to collect garbage from all 100 wards.