Manual Scavenging: The Delhi High Court on Monday took suo motu cognisance while responding to several media reports claiming that two people died after allegedly inhaling toxic gasses while cleaning a sewer. The incident took place last week in Delhi’s Mundka area.
In the matter, the Delhi HC has issued notice to Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in the matter.
Late last week, residents of a society complained of blocked sewage. Following which, Rohit, who used to work as a sweeper reached to the spot and stepped into the manhole to clean it but he fainted.
Following which, Ashok Kumar, a security guard of society, immediately went into the manhole to rescue Rohit. But he also fainted.
The two were rushed to nearby hospital where they were declared dead. The police had sent the bodies for the post mortem report.
Meanwhile, the family of Rohit raised questions on the society asking why did Rohit was asked to clean the sewage.
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Media reports claim that Rohit used to work as a cleaner who was not responsible for cleaning the sewage.
It should be noted that neither the society provided any security equipment from the society to protect themselves from harmful gasses.
Manual Scavenging
Despite being declared illegal by law, the practice of manual scavenging is still prevalent in the nation leading to deaths of many sanitation workers due to the lack of safety equipment.
Keeping the scenario in mind, an imitative — #Action2022 campaign was launched in several parts of India to urge government for taking necessary steps in order to prevent such deaths.
