Mumbai: Despite manual scavenging being banned in India, hazardous cleaning of septic tanks and sewers continues to put sanitation workers’ lives at risk, with bereaved families often waiting years for promised compensation.
Workers still enter deadly spaces without protection
Arjun Chauhan, 37, a contract worker from Panvel, knows that septic tanks and sewers are supposed to be cleaned using machines and that workers must be provided protective equipment. Yet, when such work is assigned, he enters these dangerous spaces without adequate safety cover.
His experience reflects a wider concern surrounding the safety of sanitation workers who continue to undertake hazardous cleaning work under difficult conditions. Exposure to toxic gases and oxygen-deficient environments can quickly turn routine-looking work into a fatal emergency.
Several workers have lost their lives while carrying out such cleaning operations, highlighting the gap between laws on paper and safety practices on the ground.
Families left waiting for promised relief
The tragedy does not end with the death of a worker. Families left behind can face prolonged waits for compensation and rehabilitation.
Under the applicable rules, families of workers who die while engaged in manual scavenging are entitled to compensation of Rs 30 lakh. However, bureaucratic procedures, official delays and legal complications can leave grieving families waiting for years before receiving the assistance.
For families that have lost their primary breadwinner, such delays can deepen financial hardship and emotional distress.
Safety must come before human lives are lost
The continuing deaths underline the need for strict enforcement of the ban on manual scavenging, greater use of mechanised cleaning and mandatory safety equipment.
Every sanitation worker deserves to return home safely after work. Ensuring that basic protections are actually implemented — rather than merely prescribed in regulations — remains an urgent responsibility for authorities and contractors alike.