As many as 125 deaths involving manual scavengers across India were reported between January and October this year, said DASAM, an advocacy organisation that works for the rights of Dalits and Adivasis.
DASAM, or Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch, documented the number of deaths involving sanitation work, sewer and septic-tank cleaning, sewage-treatment infrastructure, confined-space entry, maintenance and repair.
The deaths are recurring patterns rather than isolated episodes, largely due to the unavailability of protective gear. They occur in factories, industrial units, residential societies, construction sites, sewage-treatment plants, sewer lines and other public and private infrastructure.
July recorded 28 deaths, followed by March (25) and June (20). There was one death in February and nine in September, suggesting summers were more fatal than winters.
Bihar topped the list with 14 deaths, followed by Tamil Nadu (12), Haryana (11) and Uttar Pradesh (10). Kerala recorded just one death.
One falls, another goes to rescue – death comes for all
The report points to a recurring pattern observed in several causes it documented: rescue-chain deaths. When one worker enters a poisonous confined space, becomes unconscious by inhalation and another worker enters the same space to rescue his colleague. These workers are not provided with any kind of protection from their employer. Often, it has resulted in multiple deaths.
DASAM’s report testifies to many incidents where this pattern is observed.
In March, at Indore’s Choithram Sabji Mandi, manual scavenger Karan entered a sewage chamber for cleaning and immediately fell unconscious due to toxic gases. In an attempt to rescue him, Ajay entered the same chamber and was also overcome by the toxic atmosphere. Both workers died.
In the same month, Raipur reported three deaths. Anmol Manjhi, 25; Govind Sendre, 35; and Satyam Kumar, 22, died after entering a 20-foot-deep septic tank during hazardous cleaning work at a private hospital in Raipur.
A fourth worker also entered the tank and became severely injured but survived.
None of them had any protective equipment or safety gear. What was astonishing in this case was that it occurred on hospital premises, the very institution required to work under a sterile environment.
In Gujarat, Krishna Roy, 28, became unconscious due to severe low oxygen and toxic-gas accumulation. Dilip Das, 28, entered the tank to rescue Krishna and lost his senses.
Forty-year-old Josok Rabha, the property owner, then entered in an attempt to rescue Krishna and Dilip. He was followed by 25-year-old Bajpayee Rabha.
Krishna, Dilip and Josok Rabha died while Rabha was admitted to the ICU.
The report calls rescue-chain deaths one of the most disturbing patterns, suggesting at least 16 people died across Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram and Tamil Nadu while attempting to rescue their colleagues.
These incidents are examples of the recurring rescue-chain pattern in which the absence of an immediately available trained rescue team forces colleagues to become rescuers and creates additional fatalities.
These incidents are examples of the denial of protective and safety gear, no training, as well as the absence of a trained rescue team, forcing colleagues to become rescuers and creating additional fatalities.
“A proper system requires that workers never enter such spaces without a rescue plan already in place. Rescue should be conducted using retrieval systems and (14) trained personnel rather than by sending additional unprotected workers into the same hazardous atmosphere,” said the report.
Deaths not registered under manual scavenging
On January 29 last year, the Supreme Court of India imposed a complete ban on manual scavenging and hazardous manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks in major cities. The top court noted the work was inhuman and a clear violation of Articles 17 and 21 of the Constitution and directed its complete eradication.
However, very little is done. Fatalities continue, not by manual scavenging or inhaling toxic gases while cleaning sewers or septic tanks. The deaths are registered according to a worker’s official occupation or the type of establishment.
Like someone officially labelled a construction worker or a factory worker will not be sent to clean a septic tank. Hence, there is no proof of manual scavenging.
DASAM report argues that these deaths should be recognised as sanitation/confined-space deaths because the actual task and hazardous environment are what caused the fatality.
Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims
All victims mentioned in the report are either Dalits, Adivasis or from the Muslim community.
DASAM states that hiring on a contract or short-term basis has instead heightened caste-based occupational inequality. Most workers come from oppressed castes or with severe financial constraints. Contractorisation can make the workers less visible and weaken the chain of accountability.
“Workers may be recruited through intermediaries, paid in cash, provided no written contract and given little or no training. They may have no insurance, occupational-health protection, social security or effective grievance mechanism,” says the report.
The report thus views manual scavenging and hazardous manual sanitation work as an issue of caste hierarchy, untouchability, structural violence, economic coercion, institutional discrimination, contractor exploitation and denial of dignity.
As for their families, a breadwinner was lost, leaving them with scraps. It does not end here. Getting official records, delays in registering FIRs (first information reports) and post-mortem reports, compensation and rehabilitation coupled with administrative procedures, is a long battle.
For survivors, it is an endless wait at hospitals. They suffer long-term health consequences with respiratory illness, lung damage, skin disease, burns, neurological problems, chronic infections and psychological trauma.
Yet occupational-health monitoring for sanitation workers remains inadequate.
Mechanised work, criminal cases and compensation
The DASAM report has proposed 18 measures, including filing criminal cases under applicable laws and conducting independent, time-bound inquiries into every death involving manual confined-space entry.
The government should fully mechanise sewer and septic-tank cleaning wherever technically possible, along with a nationwide sanitation-safety audit.
It has sought compulsory oxygen and toxic-gas testing before confined-space entry and properly trained rescue systems.
Criminal accountability for employers, contractors, property owners and responsible officials. Most importantly, the correct classification of sanitation deaths.
It has demanded a minimum compensation of Rs 30 lakh for affected families, government employment and comprehensive rehabilitation for eligible dependents. In addition, housing, pensions, education, healthcare and livelihood support for affected families.
There should be monitoring committees, blacklisting or cancellation of contracts for repeat violators, and a transparent national database of sanitation-related deaths and injuries.
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