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Dalit Entrepreneurs on a Mission to Eradicate Manual Scavenging

Ten deaths in a span of 5 weeks made the government of Delhi completely ban the practice of manual scavenging in the city.
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Newsclick Image by Trina Shankar

Ten deaths in a span of 5 weeks made the government of Delhi completely ban the practice of manual scavenging in the city. Even though the technology has existed which can prevent people from entering the sewers and end up dying, it was not being utilized in the country. The Safai Karamchari Andolan (SKA), which is working towards the eradication of manual scavenging from the country, has documented about 1500 deaths since 1993. Experts say that the toll could be 3 – 5 times the reported incidents.

In the back drop of these deaths the state was grappling with how to implement the available technology. Meanwhile, the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI) had made a presentation to the Delhi government on August 25, 2017 to carry out a project that would help in the eradication of manual scavenging to a large extent. Nidish Anand of DICCI spoke to Newsclick and said that their organisation has proposed a project to the government to prevent deaths in the sewers. He said that the family members of the workers who died working in the sewers would be the first priority. They would help them become owners of the machinery that can be engaged with the Delhi municipalities or private malls and hotels for cleaning. Apart from this, he said that the DICCI would also engage with the state financial bodies to secure loans to purchase said machinery. 

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DICCI Members with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal Photo credit: Millennium Post

A similar project is being carried out in Hyderabad under the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) and the Telangana government on how to prevent these deaths. Newsclick spoke to Rahul Kiran Chanti, President of DICCI’s Telangana Chapter, on the project taken up by them in Hyderabad. He said a firm comprising of the Dalits won the open tender to operate 70 Mini Sewer-Jetter Machines in the city. Rahul Kiran earlier was a civil services aspirant and had cleared the prelims but eventually joined DICCI and continued to work there.

Rahul said: “Specially designed machines that can be employed even in narrow lanes to clean were ordered. With these machines we are able to operate in areas that were previously not possible for the sewer jetter-machines to enter.”

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He says that with this project, DICCI has been able to provide opportunities to the community to become owners of the machinery and lead a dignified life. He said, “28 owners of the mini air tech machines used to work as manual scavengers. Hereafter, they own the machines and they don’t have to enter manholes.The workers are also provided with training and are given bacteria free dresses to wear while working these machines.”

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In the wake of the deaths being reported in the capital city, the Prime Minister’s Office(PMO) on August 25, 2017 had asked the HMWSSB to make a presentation on how technology could be used to sort the problem of manual scavenging in the sewerage system. It is reported that PMO had asked the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to develop technology to prevent manual cleaning of sewage blocks.

Speaking to Newsclick on the PMOs suggestion to HAL, D. Raghunandan, Delhi Science Forum, and a former scientist of HAL said, “This is a highly exaggerated demand for technology.The world over, sewers and drains are cleaned using suction pumps and high-pressure water jets. If we adopt the technology being used in other countries, that would suffice.” He went on to say that till two decades back the Municipality of Los Angeles, also had workers cleaning the sewers manually with rudimentary tools. But they were provided the necessary safety equipment.

He added by stating, “The suggestion to use robots would have to be very advanced, highly equipped and very expensive indeed! In the west, cameras are used to see what is going on, obviously after suction pumps are used to take out most of the water and sludge. Gases, if any, should be taken out using exhaust fans before intrusive cleaning is attempted. I think the whole idea of developing and deploying robots is ridiculous. First let us do the basics right like using suction pumps and water jets.”

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Images courtesy: DICCI

The officials in Hyderabad had already had talks with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) on August 6, 2017 to develop technology to help clean Hyderabad sewers which has around 2.65 lakh manholes. They are going to geo-tag all the manholes and monitor the sewage system with technology specially designed to do so.

Even though the Delhi government said that there has to be 100% mechanisation of  cleaning of sewers and drains in the city, the practice continues to exist. On the 28th Newsclick shot a video of a person working in the sewers and brought it to the notice of the AAP government via Twitter but there has been no acknowledgement from the them till the story was filed.

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If the governments’ adopt such available technology and makes it mandatory for the private housing and commercial societies to do the same, we can go a long way in preventing manual scavenging and deaths from doing such work.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author's personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Newsclick.

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