'Manual scavenging': death toll of Indian sewer cleaners revealed.

Pedro_P

Eleven Indians have died this month while cleaning sewers or septic tanks without adequate safety gear.

Manual scavenging has persisted even as India has modernised. Photograph: Ritesh Shukla/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock
▼ At least one Indian worker has died while cleaning sewers or septic tanks every five days since the beginning of 2017, according to the first official government statistics on the work, considered one of country’s deadliest jobs and most insidious form of caste discrimination.
But activists and the National Commission for Safai Karamacharis (NCSK), the government agency that provided the data, say the real death rate is probably much higher – with many Indian authorities still undercounting the number of such workers in their state.
Eleven Indians have died so far this month while cleaning sewers or septic tanks without adequate safety gear. Five died in a single incident last week in the west of the capital, Delhi, when they were allegedly pressured into cleaning a sewage treatment tank. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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pvk_udt

This hashould to stop. We should have a proper system to do this automatically

RobbieWetta872

Yes considering all the money being invested in India right now this should be one of the first things that gets fixed. No one should have to do a job like this in 2018. These poor people.

Chang Tikhak

It simple breaks my heart to see our people forced to work without any safety and security

blueorange

Shame that 21st century Indians still don't have alternatives to manual scavenging. It's not a hobby, its always a last resort. If only India had emulated china's growth model & created millions of jobs in manufacturing. Services will take you only this far.