Gujarat continues to witness deaths of manual scavengers

From March 22 to April 26, 2023, as many as eight people have died while cleaning sewers in various parts of Gujarat, raising concerns about the continuing deaths of manual scavengers despite the fact that the practice has been declared illegal across the country. 

From March 22 to April 26, 2023, as many as eight people have died while cleaning sewers in various parts of the Gujarat, raising concerns about the continuing deaths of manual scavengers despite the fact that the practice has been declared illegal across the country. 

In Rajkot, two died on March 22, in Dahej three died on April 3, later two died in Dholka on April 23 and one more death was reported from Tharad in north Gujarat on April 26. 

All incidents occurred when the workers without protective gears entered the sewer lines to clean them manually and died of asphyxiation or inhaling the poisonous gas. And after the deaths, police lodged cases of accidental deaths while in the Dahej incident, the case was lodged against the private contractor. 

All the workers who died were hired by the private contractors who are roped in by the civic bodies or the government agencies to outsource the works related to maintenance of underground sewer lines. 

Watch | Manual scavenging: India’s continuing shame 

In Gujarat, as per the figures shared by the State government in the Assembly recently, as many as 11 people died while cleaning sewer lines in last two years before these eight deaths that have been reported recently.