Deaths in septic tanks

Over the past week, 10 manual scavengers, one of them a woman, have died while cleaning septic tanks and sewers, with no safety gear, except for their own clothes as a protective cover against the deadly fumes. According to the Socio-Economic Caste Census of 2011, close to 2 lakh households are engaged in manual scavenging for livelihood. This, when the dehumanising practice was prohibited in 1993. Twenty years later, the Manual Scavengers Act was passed to reinforce the ban and undertake their rehabilitation. Expectedly, nothing much has changed for this lot that remains untouched by India’s gleaming growth story.

Five of these deaths took place in the National Capital, where its Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal talks of the delivery of essential public services at the door of every Dilli-wallah. The ‘jhadoo’ tokenism becomes mere mockery of the party’s grand plans for the most aam of the aam aadmi. The Manual Scavengers Act makes it incumbent on local authorities to ensure that no worker is employed as a scavenger to enter septic tanks and sewers. Yet, the practice prevails across India. The Delhi administration has ordered an investigation into the deaths. No Sherlock Holmes acuity is required to know why and how it happened. How challenging would it be for a country that has achieved success in its Mars and lunar exploration missions to provide basic safety gear, comprising gas masks, to its sanitation workers?

These deaths, though wholly preventable, are routine. Among Dalits, the agricultural labour class dominates their politics, perhaps the reason why manual scavenging has not faced strident opposition on the streets. Manual scavengers are among the most disadvantaged communities and the poorest of the very poor. The government must adopt effective and early measures to this end. While true rehabilitation must be speeded up, IITs can be roped in to evolve a mechanised alternative to end this appalling practice. Society cannot forever remain oblivious to these hapless beings who clean up its muck by descending into the repugnant depths of a dark pit to earn the day’s living, but end up dead.