BMC to start 10-day survey on manual scavenging from Sunday
BMC said the survey will be conducted from October 6 till October 16, with the civic body roping in an external agency through the solid waste management department.
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Manual scavenging is the practice of removing human excreta by hand from sewers or septic tanks (File Photo)Keeping in line with the directives issued by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to conduct a survey on manual scavenging in the city and suburbs from Sunday — an exercise that will span across 10 days.
An outlawed practice since 2013, manual scavenging has been banned under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, (PEMSR). Manual scavenging is the practice of removing human excreta by hand from sewers or septic tanks. In 2013, the definition of manual scavengers was broadened to include people employed to clean septic tanks, ditches, or railway tracks.
After the guidelines came into force, the BMC conducted a survey in 2013 during which it found that there were zero manual scavengers in the city. However, in light of a recent writ petition on manual scavenging, the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has directed the civic body to conduct a fresh survey on manual scavenging within its jurisdiction.
On Friday, the BMC said the survey will be conducted from October 6 till October 16, with the civic body roping in an external agency through the solid waste management department. Meanwhile, the BMC has also appealed people to visit the Assistant Chief Supervisor (SWM) at the divisional office during the survey period. To increase the reach of the drive, a civic official said notices informing about registration under the survey is slated to be published across public places such as toilets, checkpoints etc.
Even as the civic body maintains the city has no cases of manual scavenging, the illegal practice continues as people still rope in unskilled labourers to manually clean overflowing sewer or septic tanks, ditches, private or public toilets. Earlier this year, two cases of manual scavenging took a fatal turn, claiming at least four lives, within a month.
In the first, three members of a family lost their lives after entering a tank of a public toilet at Ambujwadi on March 21. In the second incident, on April 24, a worker who was roped in to clean the sewer chamber of an under-construction building was killed. One among two brothers who attempted to save the former also died inhaling toxic gases inside the chamber. The other brother is still battling for his life.
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