A prominent activist working among scavengers and pourakarmikas has alleged that Kolar City Municipal Council (CMC) officials have forced some workers to clean an underground drainage pit manually.
The CMC commissioner S.A. Ramprakash had forced eight Dalit workers to clean the UGD pit at Kanakanapalya under ward No. 5 of CMC, Karnataka State Manual Scavengers Monitoring Committee member M. Padma said in a complaint lodged with the Town police.
The work done by the scavengers was in violation of the relevant law as well as Supreme Court order which strictly prohibited manual scavenging, she said in the complaint and wanted a case filed against the commissioner and others involved in the incident.
“The commissioner and the local councillor forced the scavengers on Thursday to clean the pit to clear the blockage”, Ms. Padma told The Hindu . The workers were threatened and their cellphones were snatched, Ms. Padma alleged. The commissioner had offered ₹ 5,000 to the workers for the menial job, she added.
The CMC is the principal employer as the UGD was on Kolaramma tank bed and local body authorities should be prosecuted for violating the manual scavenging prohibition law, Ms. Padma argued.
However, Mr. Ramprakash clarified that no such incident had taken place. “There is no need to employ private workers since the CMC had enough pourakarmikas. We also have machinery to perform cleaning works”, he told The Hindu .
