Delhi sanitation workers' ordeal in photos: Down in the dump where death lurks

Sanitation workers in Delhi-NCR suffer through years as they await compensation, while they battle diseases and financial constraints

Updated on: Oct 12, 2025 2:39 PM IST

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A sanitation worker looks at the camera while he cleans a manhole in Delhi-NCR's Ghaziabad. (PTI)

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Kajal, the daughter of sanitation worker Sher Singh who sustained injuries while cleaning a sewer in 2019 and succumbed to his injuries five years later, rests at her residence, in New Delhi. (Uzmi Ather/PTI)

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Rakesh, a sanitation worker, shows his photographs of cleaning sewers, which he represents to contractors while seeking a job, at Seemapuri, in New Delhi. (Uzmi Ather/PTI)

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Family members of Sanjay, a sanitation worker who was injured while cleaning a sewer in 2020 and has since been battling with lung and kidney related diseases, at their residence at Seemapuri area in New Delhi. (Uzmi Ather/PTI)

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Family members of Sher Singh, a sanitation worker in their residence in New Delhi. (PTI)

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Soni, wife of sanitation worker Sher Singh stands in her residence in New Delhi. (Uzmi Ather/PTI)

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Rakesh, a sanitation worker who is battling several diseases, with wife and son at his residence at Seemapuri area, in New Delhi. (Uzmi Ather/PTI)

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Rakesh speaks during an interview, at Seemapuri, in New Delhi as he explains about his hazardous work conditions and his dependence on debt for treatment. (PTI)

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Sanjay, a sanitation worker speaks during an interview at his residence at Seemapuri area, in New Delhi. (PTI)