Manual Scavenging a serious problem! Should be dealt with on extreme priority basis !

It sounds horrific and terribly shocking that even after seven decades of our independence and so much talks about lifting up the socio-economically deprived sections and those belonging to the lowest ebb of the society, manual scavenging is still prevalent in our country with sever workers dying day by day for want of adequate life-saving equipments and latest machines required during cleaning of the sewers, literally filled with garbage full of human shit, emanating highly poisonous/toxic gases leading to confirmed deaths.

What is more shocking and anguishing is the fact that the state governments have turned a blind eye on this pivotal issue including Delhi’s AAP government, that too after so much of public outrage and hullaballoo after few deaths in sewers during a months’ time in the national capital territory of Delhi. Even a few months ago scavengers and sewer workers had been killed in Delhi Shahdara etc when they were employed by some private builders to clear the overfilled sewers devoid of any oxygen cylinders and life-saving equipment including the sewer cleaning machines.

It sounds ironic and worrisome that there is no provision of any health insurance incentive for these vulnerable sewer employees nor provision for grant of a handsome financial compensation to the bereaved families of the dead who are below the poverty line. The majority of the political parties are busy in issues like Rafale, banking frauds and agrarian crisis, etc trying to derive a maximum political advantage in view of the fast-approaching elections of the three states and the general elections of 2019. The former women MP and the polit bureau member of CPM Brinda Karat held a massive demonstration outside the Delhi secretariat raising slogans against AAP, demanding adequate compensation and due delivery of the latest sewer cleaning equipment and life-saving machines including the health insurance of the sewer employees and the manual scavengers.

In a memorandum presented to the Delhi government’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, the leader of the manual scavengers and the party protestor Ms. Brinda Karat demanded provision of sewer cleaning machines, rehabilitation of workers, strict enforcement of ban on manual scavenging and sanctioning of financial compensation of Rs. 25 lakhs to family of those killed. The protestors also demanded that the Delhi Jal Board immediately stop the privatization of the sanitation work. The wife and three children of the sewer worker Anil who had died just a few days ago inside the sewer while cleaning it were also protesting along with other CPM workers holding the picture of her deceased husband and complaining about the financial compensation not yet delivered to the bereaved family despite being publicly declared by the state government. Speaking to reporters, furious and badly angered Brinda Karat said that despite the existing law against manual scavenging it’s not being implemented by the government concerned.

The government’s complacency in failing to provide adequate machines and life-saving equipment leads to people calling the private sewer workers who languishingly end up losing their precious lives. This is absurd and condemnable she added. In the meanwhile, the chief minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal convened the first-ever meeting of the state monitoring committee on the prohibition of employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation with officials and social welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam. Both the chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and the social welfare minister addressed the press conference declaring that the Delhi Jal Board would be purchasing 200 sewer cleaning machines within the next two months compounded with the rendering of a full-fledged training and providing permanent jobs to about 45 persons with the civil defense of the Delhi government. The press release from the office of the Delhi Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam stated that: It is evident that the death of manual scavengers has not been stopped despite the ban on the hazardous practice of incidents of manual cleaning of sewers and safety tanks. It is viewed that since the formation of the prohibition of Manual Scavengers Acts 2013, it has not been implemented effectively.

According to a research report, the manholes full of sewer releasing highly toxic gases consist of 78 % of Nitrogen with the garbage, rubbish, human shit, etc producing deadly methane, hydrogen sulfide, carbon mono oxide and ammonia which reduces the oxygen levels, causing Hypoxia thus often leading to deaths due to asphyxiation. According to official statistics about 1500 people had died in India in various locations inside sewers while cleaning them devoid of the life-saving equipment etc. This is most unfortunate.