Three contract workers died after drowning inside a nano-filtration feed tank during maintenance and cleaning work at Tata Marigold in Vanniyapuram, Krishnagiri district, on Monday evening, prompting a police case and an administrative inquiry into possible industrial safety lapses.
The deceased were identified as Kaveri, 28, J Akmal, 28, and Sarath Kumar, 25. All three were residents of Rayakottai and were reportedly carrying out cleaning operations inside the tank when the incident occurred.
Krishnagiri district collector C Dinesh Kumar said the workers were rescued and taken to a nearby hospital. Doctors declared them brought dead, he said. The circumstances that led to the workers drowning inside the tank have not been established in the information available so far.
The incident has brought attention to the risks faced by contract workers assigned to maintenance activities inside industrial facilities. Cleaning and maintenance work in tanks and other enclosed industrial spaces can involve operational and access hazards, making the circumstances of the incident central to the inquiry now under way. The authorities have not yet disclosed whether the tank was in operation, how the workers entered it or what safety arrangements were in place at the time.
The district administration has ordered an inquiry to determine the exact sequence of events and whether there were lapses in industrial safety protocols at the facility. The inquiry is expected to examine the work being undertaken, the responsibilities assigned to the workers and the procedures followed before the maintenance activity began.
Rayakottai police have registered a case and initiated an investigation. The police and district administration are also monitoring the situation around the industrial unit, according to the report, with officials seeking to maintain law and order as the inquiry proceeds.
The deaths raise questions about how industrial units and their contractors manage maintenance work involving temporary or contract labour. Establishing the facts will require the authorities to determine who authorised the activity, what supervision was provided and whether the facility’s prescribed safety protocols were followed. No findings from the inquiry have been announced yet.
The next steps will depend on the police investigation and the district administration’s inquiry into the incident. Officials have not announced a timeline for completing the inquiry or disclosed whether any further action has been initiated against the company or contractors involved.
