Man dies after falling into sewer while cleaning it in Delhi’s Ashok Vihar
A case has been registered for causing death by negligence and endangering life, and under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act
A 40-year-old man died and three others were hospitalised in critical condition after they fell into a sewer while cleaning it in Delhi’s Ashok Vihar Phase-II late on Tuesday.
Deputy police commissioner (north west) Bhisham Singh said that the incident was reported around 11.30pm near Harihar Apartments, where sewer cleaning work had been going on.
Police rushed to the spot and took the four men to Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Hospital. One of them, identified as Arvind, 40, a resident of Kasganj in Uttar Pradesh, was declared dead on arrival. The three others, Sonu and Narayana, from Kasganj, and Naresh, a native of Bihar, were admitted to the intensive care unit.
A police team inspected the site and summoned the manager of the construction company, undertaking the cleaning work, for questioning. Police said they were ascertaining the civic agency that had contracted the work.
A case has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for causing death by negligence and endangering life, and under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
Such deaths have continued despite the prohibition of employment as manual scavengers under the 2013 law. In February, the government told the Rajya Sabha there were about 294 sewer-related deaths across the country between 2020 and 2024.
In 1993, the Employment Of Manual Scavengers And Construction Of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act outlawed manual scavenging.
In January, the Supreme Court followed up on its October 2023 directive to governments to ensure that manual sewer cleaning was completely eradicated in a phased manner. It sought directions to ensure that any sewer cleaning work carried out through contractors, too, did not require individuals to enter sewers for any purpose.
On January 29, the court ordered municipal commissioners or chief executive officers of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad to file an affidavit indicating how and when manual scavenging/sewer cleaning has been stopped.
