Sanitation Workers’ Body Bats For Mechanised Sewer Cleaning, Urges All States To Ban Manual Scavenging

Vadodara: Taking serious note of the death of seven people while cleaning a hotel sewer in Gujarat, the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) has urged governments of all states to introduce mechanised cleaning of underground drain pipes and septic tanks. Last week, seven persons, including four sanitation workers, died of suffocation while cleaning sewer of a hotel in Dabhoi tehsil of Vadodara district. Three employees of the hotel were also among those killed.

Also Read: 801 Workers Died Cleaning Sewers In Country Since 1993, Says National Commission for Safai Karamcharis

NCSK chairperson Manhar Zala, who met family members of the seven victims on Wednesday, urged all state governments to introduce mechanised cleaning of sewers to prevent such mishaps. Talking to PTI, he expressed concern over the appalling conditions in which the victims had to work. He pointed out,

All the seven men last week entered the septic tank without any safety gear.

Urging all states to ban manual scavenging, he said,

The commission has taken a serious note of several such deaths in the country during the cleaning of sewers. Our suggestion of mechanised cleaning was earlier implemented by the Delhi government.

Most of the sanitation workers are into the profession since generations and find it difficult to get other jobs, he noted. Mr. Zala said,

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also often spoken about improving the lives of sanitation workers. This way, they will get self-employed. They may be called entrepreneurs, a status that will help them economically. It will also ensure their safety and give them dignity.

Also Read: Curse On Society That People Still Dying Cleaning Sewage, Says National Human Rights Commission’s Chief

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.