Gujarat HC seeks clarity on working of govt’s PPP model for eliminating manual scavenging

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D N Ray, which is hearing petitions seeking the implementation of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers Act, 2013, also asked the state government to submit a future plan and timeline for 150 municipalities in the state.

The verbal order of the High Court noted the submission of the Commissioner of Municipalities Administration by way of an affidavit filed on October 15.

The affidavit stated that under the PPP model, a state level nodal agency named Gujarat Urban Development Mission (GUDM) had issued a request for proposal for “hiring of vehicle mounted suction cum jetting machine with sewage water recycling facility for cleaning and desilting of sewer and drain lines, having 300 mm diameter or more, for a period of seven years for cleaning the Urban Ground Drainage (UGD) network of 150 municipalities of Gujarat State”.

The affidavit stated that in November 2022, an agreement had been executed between GUDM and Metro Waste Handling Private Limited to facilitate the procurement and operationalisation of mechanised cleaning machines, by which 17 sewer cleaning machines in the six zones have already been procured. The work of supply, installation, testing and commissioning of 40 manhole cleaning robots along with operation and maintenance of both new and existing manhole cleaning robots and machines have been undertaken, out of which 10 such machines have been procured, the affidavit added.

Advocate General Kamal Trivedi submitted before the court that the October 15 affidavit has also stated that the machines “have been assigned to the urban local bodies of Amreli, Anand, Godhra, Bharuch, Dwarka, Bhuj, Morbi, Himmatnagar,Deesa and Surendranagar as Head urban local bodies for different zones”.

The court was also informed that as per a letter dated October 13 by the GUDC, work orders have been issued for procurement of 209 more machines which is expected to be completed by the end of March-April, 2026. Nodal officers of substantial rank have been appointed in every municipal corporation, urban development authority and municipality. In the case of Municipalities, the Chief Officer has been designated as Nodal Officer to oversee the compliance, the court was informed.

The oral order of the court also noted the submission of the applicant’s lawyer Subramaniam Iyer that even after and in spite of the court order, “recent deaths have occurred and one such incident where two deaths due to manual cleaning of manhole is the subject matter of an FIR dated September 9, 2025. The court granted four weeks time to Iyer to place on record particulars of the incident where deaths have occurred due to manual scavenging for “fixing liability of those that may have been negligent”.

The court will hear the matter on November 28 when the Commissioner of Municipalities of Gujarat has been directed to file an affidavit to place before the court the further progress in the matter. The court has also sought “more clarity” about the functioning of the PPP model for the procurement, operation and maintenance of the machines and also the role of GUDM for cleaning of the underground drainage network. The Commissioner of Municipalities has also been asked to “work out the current and future requirements of 150 Municipalities of the state” and submit a timeline for the completion of the process before the High Court.