As many as 347 people have died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks in India in the last five years, with Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Delhi accounting for 40% of these fatalities, according to government data.
Responding to a question in Lok Sabha, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar on July 19 said 92 such deaths were recorded in 2017, 67 in 2018, 116 in 2019, 19 in 2020, 36 in 2021 and 17 deaths in 2022.
Manual scavenging is a banned practice under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (PEMSR) Act, 2013.
