CUTTACK: The hazardous method of cleaning drains manually continues unabated by Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) in gross violation of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013.
Even though the manual system has already claimed three lives in two separate incidents in the past, the civic body has yet to learn its lesson and go for implementation of the Act by adopting technology.
Manual scavenging was found to be carried out by WATCO’s drainage division in the city recently as labourers were cleaning the newly constructed box drain by entering inside the manhole without safety gears.
Even though it was carried out under the supervision of local corporator and CMC mayor Subhas Singh, they had not advised the agency to adhere to safety measures which raised eyebrows. Residents came forward and advised them to refrain from manual cleaning without safety measures in place.
In 2021, two workers had died of asphyxiation and another had become critical while cleaning a sewerage system at CDA Sector-10. Before that, a labourer died of asphyxiation and two others trying to rescue him had become critical while cleaning a tunnel of the JICA-funded Odisha Integrated Sanitation Improvement Project (OISIP) carried out by Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board (OWSSB) in Mahidas Bazar area of the city in July 2018.
After much delay, the CMC intensified drain de-silting work on a war footing. Apart from three outsourcing agencies, the civic body also deployed its manpower to complete the cleaning by June 15 which should ideally have been completed by May 30. However, sans safety measures, labourers can be found cleaning drains manually without shoes, let alone safety equipment, endangering their lives. Singh clarified that there are several drains which are so narrow that cleaning cannot be taken up without manual scavenging.
General manager, WATCO’s drainage division, Achyuta Bijayananda Behera, however, said that they have stopped the box drain cleaning work.
“We have already procured two blower machines and shall resume the box drain cleaning by using the same with protective gears from day after tomorrow,” he said.