Sanitary workers dread Pandharpur festival

The Bombay HC had directed against the use of open-air pit toilets, and their role in "indirect" manual scavenging.

July 20, 2015 01:49 am | Updated 02:10 am IST - Mumbai:

In a week from now, close to 15 lakh pilgrims will converge on Pandharpur for ekadashi . But for conservancy workers in the town, days of dread have already begun.

The Solapur district administration is setting up 18,000 toilets for the pilgrims. Since the number is 7,000 short of target, the workers fear the dreadful prospect of manual scavenging returning during the annual spiritual affair.

The pilgrims, called “warkaris”, come in processions to offer prayers on the banks of the Chandrabhaga river. Work on setting up the toilets — temporary, permanent, mobile, prefabricated and trenches or pits — has done little to reassure the sanitary workers.

As many as 2,100 toilets being set up are pit toilets, adding to the fear of the workers as it goes against the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993. Though the open-air pit toilets are being constructed with the court’s permission, the Bombay High Court had, in an earlier order, directed against their use, observing their role in “indirect” manual scavenging.

With around 15 lakh pilgrims expected to visit the town and the Solapur district administration way behind the target of providing toilets, the threat of manual scavenging looms large.

“Sure, the number of toilets has increased, but it is nowhere sufficient. Workers will have to carry out manual scavenging in some form. It is so disgusting that they get themselves intoxicated and do the work,” Guru Krishna Dodiya, leader of conservancy workers in the town, says.

As many as 2,100 toilets being set up are pit toilets, adding to the fear of the workers as it goes against the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993. But the authorities say the pits are filled with mud and spread with bioculture after use.

“There is no need to take the waste anywhere. It is either automatically pumped out or treated with bioculture,” District Collector Tukaram Mundhe says.

Though the open-air pit toilets are being constructed with the court’s permission, the Bombay High Court had, in an earlier order, directed against their use, observing their role in “indirect” manual scavenging.

On December 24, 2014, a Division Bench of Justices A.S. Oka and A.S. Gadkari noted, “The report records a happy situation that now there are no instances of direct manual scavenging in the city of Pandharpur. At the same time, it records that as the practice of making temporary toilets by digging trenches continues, the workers employed by the municipal council have to clean or maintain the same manually which may amount to an indirect way of continuing manual scavenging ... We must also observe that making temporary toilets by digging trenches is not advisable as for cleaning the same, indirectly a recourse will have to be taken to manual scavenging.”

Surprisingly, in court hearings, the pilgrims expressed apprehensions about some toilet designs and even the use of toilets. The Bench noted, “Some of them were not aware as to how the toilets/urinals can be used as they were used to open toilets in their respective villages. However, many such persons have no specific reason for not using the toilets and when enquired [by a team of advocates], they were initially arrogant.”

Permanent facility

Praveen More of the Campaign Against Manual Scavenging in Maharashtra says permanent toilets are a pressing need, and though being built in important locations, they will be ready only next year.

The administration is admittedly working against the daunting ground realities. “We have identified 65 acres of land to house the pilgrims. We are taking all steps to ensure that all important points, such as bus stands and railway stations, are serviced by toilets. The puja time has been reduced. Manual scavenging is out of the question,” the Collector says.

Lack of will

In a telling comment on the lack of official will, the authorities decided to set up toilets only after a series of High Court orders. Furthermore, a long-pending demand of the conservancy workers for rehabilitation is stuck at the State government level. On July 16, the staff staged a morcha and threatened to go on strike, but because of the ekadashi festivities, they have been warned against staying off work.

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