355 declarations of manual scavenging submitted to BMC

In 2024, the civic body’s first such survey had reported zero cases—a statistic it has maintained for several years.

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) received as many as 355 declarations of manual scavenging from the M East and M West wards—covering areas like Govandi and Chembur—on Tuesday, in response to an annual exercise to identify manual scavengers in the city. In 2024, the civic body’s first such survey had reported zero cases—a statistic it has maintained for several years.

NEW DELHI, INDIA - SEPTEMBER 18,2013: municipal worker attempts to unblock a sewer overflowing with human excreta in New Delhi on October 7, 2009. Although a law bans manual scavenging - the manual removal of human excreta from 'dry toilets' - the practice is widespread across cities and towns in India. (Photograph by Raj K Raj / Hindustan Times)

“The names submitted today are of workers who are employed every year in the pre-monsoon cleaning of open and closed drains, chambers and sewer lines, where they are made to step in the drains and scoop out the waste in extremely hazardous conditions without adequate safety gear,” said Shubham Kothari, one of the people behind the Loktantrik Kamgaar Union, a labour organisation that submitted the declarations on behalf of the workers. “Many of them live in villages in Maharashtra and travel for 2-3 months before the monsoon for work.”

The BMC is conducting a city-wide survey from October 1-15 to identify individuals engaged in manual scavenging. Through advertisements and outreach via the solid waste management (SWM) department and community toilets, workers involved in the prohibited activity have been invited to register with the SWM supervisor in their respective wards.

Amber Kale, 36, a worker from Chedda Nagar in Chembur whose declaration was submitted, said, “We have been involved in this work since 2005, and it happens every year for two and a half months before the monsoon. I have mainly worked in the eastern suburbs, in Chembur, Ghatkopar, Govandi, and Kurla. During the rest of the year, I look for odd daily jobs. We’re made to step into the open gutters, bear the foul stench coming out of it, and take out the waste with our hands. Rarely, if ever, are we given safety equipment. Health ailments are common among us who do this work. For a pair, we are paid between ₹700 to ₹750 for a day’s work.”

Another worker, Ashok Jyoti, 27, echoed the same, saying he has been involved in drain cleaning for the past five years. “We’ve been made to work in nallahs big and small in narrow lanes, and I have all the photos of us involved in the work as proof,” he said.

However, the nature of the work performed by these workers is likely to clash with the BMC’s official definition of manual scavenging, which only includes work in sewer lines and septic tanks. The cleaning of storm water drains (SWDs), which are technically designed to carry overflow water and silt, does not fall under this definition, according to civic officials.

Kothari said his organisation intends to challenge the BMC’s “narrow view” of manual scavenging. “By the BMC’s own admission, the distinction between sewer lines and SWD is not strict, and there is plenty of intermingling and infiltration between the two. Sewer from many homes, including slums, often makes its way into the SWD network. Hence, a clear distinction between the two cannot be made. It is almost certain these workers come in direct contact with human excreta and sewer waste,” he added.