The Government takes a serious cognizance of the deaths occurring due to hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks and non observance of safety precautions prescribed under the “Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Rules, 2013”.
Several steps have been taken for training the sanitation workers and for properly equipping them, due to which the number of accidental deaths have come down from (118) in the year 2019 to (24) in 2021.
A National Policy for mechanized Sanitation Eco-system has been formulated in consultation with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Department of Drinking water and Sanitation which envisages, inter alia, the following:
- Appointment of Responsible Sanitation Authority in every District.
- Setting up of Sanitation Response Unit (SRU) in each municipality.
- Equipping SRUs with necessary devices, machines and vehicles required for mechanized cleaning.
- Professionally trained manpower for mechanized cleaning.
- 24×7 helpline to receive complaints regarding blockage of sewers and septic tanks.
- Setting up facilities for evacuation, transportation and treatment of sludge from septic tanks.
- Training to the staff of municipalities and contractors in the mechanized cleaning of sewers/septic tanks.
