The persistence of Manual Scavenging in Indian cities

Gujarat reported around 12 deaths of manual scavengers inside sewage lines from March to April this year, many of them coming from smaller cities. The state has had the 2nd highest incidence of cleaning worker fatalities in India over past 3 decades. As per Gujarat high court’s order, head of the concerned authority (Municipal Corporation /Municipality/Panchayat) will be held responsible if any person is found to be engaged in the practice. As per the recent numbers, there are 58,098 manual scavengers in India & around 1,035 have died while cleaning sewers since 1993.

The numbers are concerning as manual scavenging is banned in India under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013. As per the law, any person/agency who engages any person for manual scavenging can face imprisonment upto 2 years or fine upto Rs. 1 Lakh or both. But, the law faces poor implementation. The law further directed the civic bodies to conduct a survey of the number of people engaged in such work within 2 months of the enforcement of the Act. Many of municipal corporations underreported the actual numbers. For example, in 2013 survey Dhule MC claimed to have 0 manual scavengers, but a 2018 survey identified 230 manual scavengers in the city.

Lately, the Union government is giving a push to machine cleaning of manholes. As announced in Budget 2023, all cities & towns will be enabled for 100% mechanical de-sludging of septic tanks & sewers with an intent to put an end to manual scavenging. But, it is reported that the vehicle mounted machines are not 100 percent successful in unclogging drains as well as face issues such as accessibility based on road width or terrains.

Kerala has become the first state in India to use robotic technology called Bandicoot to clean its sewers. Bandicoot was launched in 2018 to clean the manholes in Trivandrum & Ernakulam. Recently, it has been launched in Guruvayur town. Other cities including Prayagraj & Pune have also deployed Bandicoot for sewer cleaning.
Is your city manual scavenging free? Can it benefit from such technologies? To know more, read.