New Delhi, (Asian independent) With three deaths on the same day in two different incidents in Madhya Pradesh, 101 people have died so far in sewers and septic tanks across the country in 188 days this year, according the data compiled by Safai Karamchari Andolan (SKA). National capital region of Delhi alone accounts for 12 deaths. There is a horrific increase in the number of such deaths this year as in 2025 we recorded 121 deaths in the whole year.
Despite a sewer death happening every 45 hours in the country, shameless governments have chosen to remain in criminal silence. Needless to say, Dalit lives don’t matter for government and they have been turned into a new normal. How widespread this practice is can be understood by this simple fact that this year sewer and septic tank deaths have been reported from 16 states.
Increase in number of deaths in sewers and septic tanks have been alarming in last decade. In 2016 only 39 deaths were reported, which jumped by 350% next year in 2017 to 137 deaths.
After various Supreme Court Judgments and subsequent passing of ‘Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act’, 2013, one would have expected the governments to be proactive. But SKA has documented 1726 deaths since the new act came into force. Among them 1203 deaths came just from seven states- Tamil Nadu (332), Gujarat (216), Delhi-NCR (157), Maharashtra (155), Uttar Pradesh (148), Haryana (104) and Bihar (91). Despite such big numbers, none of these states have taken even a single step to stop these deaths.
NAMASTE (National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem) scheme was launched by the Modi government in July 2023. Scheme had an allocation of Rs 349.73 Cr though for building toilets. While, under Swachh Bharat scheme, government had already spent Rs 19 thousand Cr for building 12 Cr toilets. But neither sanitation ecosystem was mechanised, nor dry toilets were completely eliminated.
Ironically and unfortunately, all along these years ministers in the Modi government kept denying in the Parliament that there were no deaths in the country due to Manual Scavenging. Clearly, the act meant nothing for them. It also shows, how much government values the lives of Safai Karmacharis, who are still considered to be untouchables.
We demand our Prime Minister to immediately announce a complete full stop to deaths inside sewers and septic tanks.
