COIMBATORE: The inhuman and dangerous manual sewer cleaning is still on even though the Supreme Court has directed the Centre and states to eliminate it in a phased manner.
The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC), which is the second largest in Tamil Nadu in terms of area under its jurisdiction as well as revenue generation, still deploys manual labour to clear blockages in sewers and stormwater channels in the city.
Activists have slammed the civic body for deploying humans instead of machines to clean the city’s drains. Labourers can be often seen clearing drains with bare hands.
The majority of the roads in the city lack proper stormwater drains. Some of the existing drains were built by the civic body several decades ago. Most of the existing stormwater drains in the city have been turned into sewer channels, carrying black water and other garbage. Due to this, the drains frequently get clogged and foul odour starts spreading in the city.
Based on the complaints received from the public, the CCMC clears the clogged drains by removing wastes dumped in the drains. However, the civic body instead of using sewer jetting machines or super-sucker machines has been making labourers clean the drains with their bare hands without any safety gear.
S Vivin Saravan, a social activist, told TNIE, “Technology has advanced so much and we as humans have evolved a lot over the years in so many aspects. But still, making humans to clear the drains and ditches in the city with bare hands has not changed. The CCMC boasts about being one of the best smart cities in the country after shelling out thousands of crores. But they can’t even afford a machine that can be used to clean the drains.”
The lack of stringent action against officials and contractors who deploy manual labour to clean the drainage and ditches is one of the main reasons for the repeated sightings of men clearing the drains with their bare hands, said Vivin, adding that this needs to be dealt with strictly and immediately.
Speaking to TNIE, CCMC Commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran said, “In the civic budget we have already made an announcement regarding procuring jetting machines to clear the clogged drains and channels. We shall soon procure it. Currently, we have rented a big jetting machine from Tiruppur and have deployed it here in the city in Ward 86 to clear the blockages in the stormwater drains. We will be using it for the time being. On the other hand, clear instructions have already been given to all and we have warned not to use any manual labour to clear the silt from the stormwater drains and drainages. We shall take strict action and fine the contract if we find anyone using manual labour.”
