Suicide bid by protesting sanitation workers at Thiruvananthapuram corp office creates panic

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The two-week-long protest by sanitation workers took a dramatic twist when two sanitation workers climbed a tree in protest on the corporation main office premises threatening suicide creating panic for nearly three hours on Saturday morning. The incident happened around 5.45 am when two members of the District Sanitation Workers’ Union climbed a tall tree on the corporation office premises with petrol and ropes.

Despite attempts by officials to persuade them to come down, the workers remained adamant insisting that their demands be met before ending their protest. The workers had been on strike for the past 17 days alleging that the Mayor and the health standing committee chairperson were ignoring their pleas, and accused the health officials of harassment and claimed that their vehicles had been seized. When the situation escalated, Minister V Sivankutty intervened and held discussions with the union leaders at his residence.



The union leaders claimed that the minister had agreed to their seven demands including the release of their seized vehicles. CPM district secretary V Joy, Mayor Arya Rajendran and health standing committee chairperson Gayathri Babu were also present. Around 9am, a team from the fire and rescue services department arrived and brought the workers down.

The workers had been involved in the collection of food waste on behalf of private service providers roped in by the city corporation. They launched the protest alleging the health authorities were harassing them. A release from the Mayor’s office said that the process of integration of sanitation workers into the Haritha Karma Sena is under way.

The statement also clarified that the vehicles that were seized were involved in illegal waste disposal and such action will not be tolerated..