Sewer men to get safety equipment

Tribune News Service

Amritsar November 10

Finally, the sewer men of the Municipal Corporation will get life-saving equipment and protective kits. During a recent meeting, the civic body gave nod to buy all required equipment.

The Operation and Maintenance (O&M) wing of the MC will spend Rs19 lakh on the equipment.

Advocate Vishav, a social activist, who is working for the rights of manual scavengers, welcomed the move. But, he said he was not sure whether the sewer men would get the equipment in reality or not.

“The sewer men need masks, gumboots, gloves, oxygen cylinders, safety belts and ropes in their kits. The full kit costs around Rs25,000 so Rs19 lakh is insufficient”, he added.

Though the Supreme Court expressed serious concern over people dying during manual scavenging and sewage cleaning in the country several times, the practice of manual scavenging is prevailing in the city.

On September 4, Amarjit Singh, a contractual manual scavenger of the Municipal Corporation, had a narrow escape when he inhaled gases emanating from a choked sewerage in the Khazana Gate area. Defying the Supreme Court orders, the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) wing forces sewer men to enter manholes without providing any safety kit.

“We often hear such announcements, but the MC doesn’t even provide bamboos to clean sewerage. We have to arrange it on our own,” said a sewer man.