Incidents of manual scavenging resulting in fatalities have been far too often in Karnataka with as many as 60 deaths since 2008, and over 25 of them in Bengaluru. But who is held responsible for these deaths? No one, say activists.
Clifton D'Rozario, advocate for the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) Contract Workers’ Union, said there have been no convictions in the 57 cases reported before Tuesday’s incident. “FIRs are filed, but they are not followed up. The government should appoint a special prosecutor for such cases to ensure a fair trial and conviction of the guilty,” he said.
Many also alleged loopholes in the process of dispensing compensation. D. Babu Lal, Karnataka State Convenor of the Safai Karmachari Andolan, said, “The families never get the full compensation.”
M. Venkatesh, president of the Dalit Bahujan Movement added, “We want the government to provide employment to the spouse of the victim and free education for the children.”
‘Follow guidelines’
Kemparamaiah, Engineer-In-Chief, BWSSB, said the board has 125 jetting machines. “We have enough jetting machines. If contractors follow precautionary measures and guidelines, such accidents will not occur. The problem is the kind of waste that is dumped in the sewage lines by restaurants, hospitals and even residents,” he added.
However, Mr. D'Rozario said, “Yes, there are machines. But how the machines are used is also important. It boils down to the fact that it (manual scavenging) is demeaning and unconstitutional,” he said.
Yet another survey
Three bodies lay in the mortuary of Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital on Tuesday, their identities sealed on their foreheads: ‘unknown’. This is the case with most sanitation workers who are engaged for cleaning manholes.
The Karnataka State Safai Karamchari Commission’s last attempt to identify how many workers are engaged in this work was a futile exercise. “The 2011 socio economic and caste census had put the manual scavengers in the State at 15,000 . But the survey we conducted in Karnataka was imperfect, as officials in 18 districts said there were no manual scavengers, while those in 12 districts said there were a little over 300 in all,” said M.R. Venkatesh, chairman of the Karnataka State Safai Karamchari Commission.
This is why the commission is preparing to conduct another survey, involving a non-governmental organisation and someone who has been working with sanitation workers soon after the State budget, Mr. Venkatesh added.
Lakshman Reddy, Joint Director, Social Welfare Department, Bengaluru Urban, said the new survey will cover the city as well. “According to the older surveys, there were 202 manual scavengers in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits and 101 in nearby areas (outside BBMP limits),” he said, adding that the high number of deaths of manual scavengers in the city pointed to negligence.
