Man dies after falling into sewer while cleaning it in Delhi’s Ashok Vihar

A case has been registered for causing death by negligence and endangering life, and under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act

Published on: Sep 17, 2025, 10:29:10 IST

By Hemani Bhandari

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A 40-year-old man died and three others were hospitalised in critical condition after they fell into a sewer while cleaning it in Delhi’s Ashok Vihar Phase-II late on Tuesday.

Such deaths have continued despite the prohibition of employment as manual scavengers. (FILE/Representative)

Deputy police commissioner (north west) Bhisham Singh said that the incident was reported around 11.30pm near Harihar Apartments, where sewer cleaning work had been going on.

Police rushed to the spot and took the four men to Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Hospital. One of them, identified as Arvind, 40, a resident of Kasganj in Uttar Pradesh, was declared dead on arrival. The three others, Sonu and Narayana, from Kasganj, and Naresh, a native of Bihar, were admitted to the intensive care unit.

A police team inspected the site and summoned the manager of the construction company, undertaking the cleaning work, for questioning. Police said they were ascertaining the civic agency that had contracted the work.

A case has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for causing death by negligence and endangering life, and under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.

Such deaths have continued despite the prohibition of employment as manual scavengers under the 2013 law. In February, the government told the Rajya Sabha there were about 294 sewer-related deaths across the country between 2020 and 2024.

In 1993, the Employment Of Manual Scavengers And Construction Of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act outlawed manual scavenging.

In January, the Supreme Court followed up on its October 2023 directive to governments to ensure that manual sewer cleaning was completely eradicated in a phased manner. It sought directions to ensure that any sewer cleaning work carried out through contractors, too, did not require individuals to enter sewers for any purpose.

On January 29, the court ordered municipal commissioners or chief executive officers of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad to file an affidavit indicating how and when manual scavenging/sewer cleaning has been stopped.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hemani Bhandari
Hemani Bhandari is a Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in New Delhi, where she reports on crime, policing, governance and social issues. With over a decade of experience in journalism, she specialises in combining on-ground reporting with evidence-based storytelling to examine the human impact of public policy, law enforcement and urban governance. Over the years, she has reported extensively on major developments in the capital, including crime investigations, civic challenges, protests, and issues affecting vulnerable communities. As a Special Correspondent, she focuses on producing exclusive investigations, enterprise stories and long-form features that go beyond daily news cycles. She has a keen interest in using public records, official data and field reporting to uncover systemic issues and present complex subjects in an accessible manner. A graduate of the Asian College of Journalism, Hemani believes in rigorous, ethical and evidence-based reporting. She is passionate about investigative journalism and continuously seeks to expand her skills in data journalism, open-source investigations and digital reporting techniques.Read More

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