A photo of a man unclogging a sewage drain without any protective gear or gloves at 90 Feet Road in Sakinaka has left Mumbaikars wondering if manual scavenging still continues in the city. It was even more shocking that the photo was shared by the official Twitter handle of the BMC’s L-Ward (Kurla, Sakinaka)
The matter came to light with a complaint posted on Twitter by one Ajay Rajak on Thursday morning that sewage was overflowing at 90 Feet Road. In the afternoon, the official Twitter handle of the ward tweeted to inform that the complaint had been attended. However, the photo that was uploaded with the tweet showed a man cleaning/unclogging the drain with bare hands.
This led to criticism raining from all corners, alleging that the BMC still adopts manual scavenging, despite the Bombay High Court order in September this year, directing the state government to ensure that the “shameful” manual scavenging is eradicated from the state.
The BMC in February this year said that there are 3.5 lakh manholes across the city. Although manual scavenging is banned, human involvement is required in some places that are inaccessible to machines. In this way, many conservancy workers have lost their lives after inhaling toxic gases.
