Bengaluru: Worker cleans manhole without protective gear at Gadag DC's Office

Manually cleaning sewage is barred in the state.

In a video that went viral on social media, a civic worked is pictured entering a manhole unequipped and without any safety great on the premise of the Gadag Deputy Commissioner’s Office. Although the Deputy Commissioner’s office refused to confirm the incident took place, they said that a probe would be done into the incident.

A civic worker was reported to have entered a manhole unequipped with safety gear on the premises of the Gadag deputy commissioner’s office.

Manually cleaning sewage is barred in the state. The law says the construction of dry toilets and the employment of manual scavengers to clean dry toilets were prohibited in India in 1993 (The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act 1993).

Later legislation in 2013, extended and clarified to include a ban on the use of human labour for direct cleaning of sewers, ditches, pits and septic tanks (Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013).

According to some sources, a worker entered a manhole without any security equipment, such as gloves, on their person. A DC office official said the worker tried to pick up a tool from the manhole but did not say anything about cleaning.

Deputy Commissioner M Sundaresh Babu said to a news website: “We have instructed workers to use a sucking machine to clean manholes in the past. We had created awareness against manual scavenging which is banned by the government. We have asked for details from the official concerned and will conduct an inquiry. We will take appropriate action once we get the details.”

Exploitation continues….

Amid, multiple legislations and measures to tackle manual scavenging it continues in parts of India largely due to governmental indifference and social prejudice.

As per the National Convener of the Safai Karmachari Andolan, 472 manual scavenging deaths across the country were recorded between 2016 and 2020, and 26 so far in 2021.