55 sanitation workers die across India in five months despite manual scavenging ban
Dalit organization says dozens died in hazardous sewer work despite legal ban, accusing authorities of failing to end caste-linked manual scavenging
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — More than 55 sanitation workers died while cleaning sewers, septic tanks and other confined sanitation spaces across India between February and June this year, despite a legal ban on the practice, according to a report released by the Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM).
The Dalit rights organization said the deaths highlight the continued use of manual sewer cleaning, a practice widely linked to India’s caste system in which workers, most of them from historically marginalized Dalit communities, are sent into hazardous underground spaces to remove waste, often without protective equipment.
According to the report, June recorded 18 deaths, while March saw 20 fatalities. Additional deaths were reported in April, May and February, bringing the five-month total to at least 55.
DASAM said many workers died after entering toxic sewers or septic tanks without oxygen supplies, gas detectors, breathing equipment, safety harnesses or emergency rescue systems. The report documented fatal incidents across several states, including multiple deaths in Surat, Bengaluru, Ludhiana, Faridabad, and New Delhi.
One of the deadliest incidents occurred on June 26 in Delhi’s Mundka industrial area, where three workers reportedly died after entering a septic tank without protective gear. According to the organization, the victims collapsed one after another while attempting to rescue each other.
The findings come more than a year after the Supreme Court of India directed authorities to eliminate manual scavenging and manual sewer cleaning in six major metropolitan areas, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
Although India outlawed manual scavenging under a 2013 law, rights groups say the practice continues because of weak enforcement, inadequate mechanization, and the widespread use of contract labor. DASAM alleged that many sewer-related deaths are officially recorded as workplace or industrial accidents rather than violations of the law, allowing employers and public authorities to avoid accountability.
Describing the deaths as “caste-based structural violence,” the organization called for criminal prosecutions of contractors and officials responsible for unsafe working conditions, mandatory police investigations into every sewer-related death, increased compensation for victims’ families and faster mechanization of sanitation work.
Campaigners have long argued that the persistence of manual scavenging reflects entrenched caste discrimination and the failure of successive governments to fully implement laws intended to eradicate the practice and rehabilitate affected workers.
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