The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that every year before the onset of monsoon, the Mumbai municipal authorities engage ‘seasonal sanitation workers’ to clean about 2200 km long storm water cum sewage drain network with their bare hands amounting to ‘manual scavenging’. Reportedly, no separate sewer lines from stormwater drains in Mumbai violates Section 239 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888. Therefore, the ‘de-silting of stormwater drains’ is only eyewash to escape the liabilities of banned manual scavenging.

Reportedly, the municipal authorities call the migrant workers ‘seasonal sanitation workers’ to get around the ban on manual scavenging, a punishable offence, and whenever deaths happen, the government never acknowledges them as manual scavengers and their entitlement to various forms of rehabilitation, including cash assistance.

These workers migrate to Mumbai between March to May every year to clean drains. Residing in a temporary slum colony in the Ghatkopar area of Mumbai, their minor children also work as daily wage workers when not attending school.

Reportedly, according to a 2022 report by the Rehabilitation Research Initiative and South Asian Labour Network, the State of Maharashtra is home to 12,562 child labourers which is the highest number in India. Most boys aged 8-13 years work as manhole cleaning assistants.

The Commission has observed that the contents of the news report about the plight of sanitation workers, which if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights. The so-called ‘seasonal sanitation workers’ are reportedly forced to enter sewer lines without safety gear. Mere calling them ‘seasonal sanitation workers’, does not mean that the contractors/ employers could take lawful liberty or exemption from the provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 as well as the guidelines mentioned in the judgement of the Apex court and advisory issued by the NHRC.

Accordingly, it has issued notices to the Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra calling for a detailed report in the matter covering all the issues raised in the news report. The report should also mention the steps taken/ proposed to address the issues. The Commission would also like to know from the Government of Maharashtra if any proposal/project is under consideration before them to separate the sewer and stormwater drains in Mumbai. The response is called for within 4 weeks.

The Commission has been consistently advocating a total ban on activities of hazardous cleaning without adequate and proper protective/ safety gears or equipment and also has advocated suitable use of work-friendly and technology-based robotic machines, besides fixing responsibility and accountability of the concerned authorities in case, death is caused to any sanitary worker while undertaking hazardous cleaning work.

The Commission has also issued an Advisory on 24^th September, 2021 about the Protection of Human Rights of the Persons Engaged in Hazardous Cleaning to the Union, State Governments and local authorities with an object to ensure complete eradication of such practice. In the advisory, it is specifically observed that in case of any sanitary work or hazardous cleaning work, the local authority and the contractor/ employers are to be held responsible and accountable, jointly and severally, irrespective of the type of hiring/engagement of the sanitary workers.

The decision given by the Apex Court, in Safai Karamchari Andolan & Ors. vs. Union of India and Others (WP(C) No. 583 of 2003) dated 27.3.2014, provides the specific mandate that the local authorities and other agencies have to use modern technology for cleaning of sewers etc.

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NSK