Cleaning of sewers yet to get fully mechanised in holy city

Charanjit Singh Teja

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Amritsar, April 16

Though the Municipal Corporation Amritsar (MCA) participated in the Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge, residents are still not aware about the objectives of the drive.

Activists working against manual scavenging claim that sanitation workers still enter manholes as cleaning of sewers is yet to fully get mechanised in the city.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) had launched the Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge in November 2021. It was aimed at preventing hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks and to promote mechanised cleaning.

Amritsar was among the 246 cities covered under the Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge by MoHUA. The Municipal Corporation advertised the toll-free number and distributed awareness material among the masses to achieve the target of the campaign.

MC officials claimed that the objectives of Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge was to mechanise the cleaning of sewers and septic tanks in order to minimise necessity of human entry, providing proper protective gear and equipment and identification of informal workers and thereby integrating them into a formal mechanism.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs collected the feedback of citizens through social media, interviewed sewermen and collected related documents about the ground situation under this challenge. The city with best results would be awarded with a prize money.

Advocate Vishav Luthra, an activist against manual scavenging said: “The Municipal Corporation officials claim to have ended the practice of entering the manhole. But in the narrow lanes of the walled city and slums, the practice is still on. It is true that a number of cases have reduced, but it should be stopped by mechanising the cleaning system. I will send notice to the authorities concerned about the recently reported manual scavenging cases in the city along with photographic evidence.”

Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu, however, said: “We eradicated the practice of entering manholes two years back. No sewer man is allowed to enter the manholes.”