55 Sanitation Workers Killed in Manual Scavenging Operations Across India in 2026 So Far: DASAM

New Delhi- Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) has strongly condemned the continuing deaths of sanitation workers across India during hazardous manual cleaning of sewers, septic tanks, sewage treatment plants (STPs), open drains, manholes, and other confined sanitation spaces. These tragedies highlight a brutal reality rooted in caste violence, contractor exploitation, institutional negligence, weak law enforcement, and systemic state failure. Despite the clear legal prohibition under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, repeated Supreme Court directives mandating mechanisation, and constitutional guarantees of equality, dignity, and life, workers continue to die in preventable circumstances.

From February to June 2026, DASAM has documented at least 55 sanitation worker deaths across the country during dangerous sewer and septic tank cleaning operations.

Month-wise Documented Deaths:

• February 2026: 1 death

• March 2026: 20 deaths

• April 2026: 10 deaths

• May 2026: 6 deaths

• June 2026: 18 deaths

These deaths directly contradict official claims that manual scavenging has been eliminated and mechanisation has been implemented. In practice, many such deaths are never officially recorded as manual scavenging fatalities. Instead, they are routinely misclassified as workplace accidents, toxic gas exposure, industrial accidents, drowning, or contractor negligence. This underreporting and misclassification allow authorities to evade accountability.

One such incident occurred on 4 February 2026, when 26-year-old Shamim Razak Gazi, a contract labourer working under the sewerage operations department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, died while cleaning a 25-foot-deep drain in Goregaon, Mumbai. He succumbed after inhaling toxic fumes and being overwhelmed by a sudden gush of water. Another worker narrowly survived the incident after rescue efforts.

DASAM’s documentation reveals a sharp escalation in March and April 2026, marked by multiple mass-casualty incidents across several states. In March 2026, 20 sanitation workers lost their lives in various incidents:

• Vaishali, Bihar — 4 workers died during septic tank cleaning after exposure to toxic gases.

• Sitamarhi, Bihar — 4 workers died in another fatal confined-space sanitation incident.

• Indore, Madhya Pradesh — 2 workers died during sewer-related cleaning work.

• Hooghly, West Bengal — 1 worker died while cleaning a sanitation structure.

• Balotra, Rajasthan — 3 workers died after entering a toxic confined space for cleaning.

• Raipur, Chhattisgarh — 3 workers died in a septic tank cleaning.

• Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh — 2 workers died during sewer cleaning.

• Seemapuri, Delhi — 1 worker died while cleaning an open drain.

These incidents across north, central, and eastern India demonstrate that manual sanitation work remains deeply entrenched in both municipal and private systems.

In April 2026, another 10 sanitation workers died:

• Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu — 2 workers died during septic tank cleaning.

• Nuh, Haryana — 2 workers died due to toxic gas exposure while cleaning the sewer.

• Jaipur, Rajasthan — 2 workers died in septic tank cleaning.

• Pune, Maharashtra — 3 workers died during cleaning inside a confined sanitation space.

• Palwal, Haryana — 1 worker died during sewer cleaning.

Even after the March spike, fatalities continued unabated in April across industrial units, urban local bodies, and contractor-operated sanitation systems.

In May 2026, 6 sanitation workers died:

• Faridabad, Haryana — 2 deaths

• Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh — 2 deaths

• Nagpur / Butibori MIDC, Maharashtra — 2 deaths

This uninterrupted pattern from February through June underscores that sewer and septic tank fatalities in India are not isolated accidents but part of a continuing structural crisis.

In June 2026 alone, nearly 18 sanitation worker deaths were recorded. Key incidents include:

• Surat, Gujarat (7 June) — Four workers died after inhaling toxic fumes while cleaning inside a septic tank at a jewellery manufacturing unit.

• Faridabad, Haryana (9 & 11 June) — Three workers died in separate sewer and STP cleaning incidents.

• Bengaluru, Karnataka (4 & 18 June) — Four workers died during tank and sewage treatment cleaning operations.

• Ludhiana, Punjab (1 June) — Three workers, including a father-son duo, died while cleaning a factory sewage tank.

• Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (5 June) — One sanitation worker died while cleaning a manhole.

• Mundka, Delhi (26 June) — Three workers died while cleaning a septic tank in an industrial unit.

These cases reveal that workers continue to be sent into toxic confined spaces without essential safety measures such as oxygen support, gas detectors, breathing apparatus, protective gear, harnesses, or emergency rescue systems. Manual entry into septic tanks and sewers remains routine despite being illegal, and “rescue-chain” deaths—where workers enter one after another to save colleagues—continue to claim multiple lives in single incidents.

Delhi Emerges as a Major Concern

Delhi remains among the most alarming sites, with more than 9 deaths linked to sewer and septic tank cleaning in June alone. On 27 June 2026, a DASAM fact-finding team visited the families of Arun, Sandeep, and Chand at their rented residences in the Indra Jheel area of Sultanpuri. The three workers had died on 26 June after inhaling toxic gases while cleaning a septic tank at Marwah Printers in Mundka Industrial Area, Delhi.

Family members told the team that the workers were forced to enter the septic tank without any protective equipment, safety harnesses, oxygen supply, gas detection devices, or mandatory safety measures. According to the testimonies, the workers first drained the water from the tank and were then pressured by the contractor to manually remove the sludge. Sandeep entered first and collapsed due to toxic gases. Arun entered to rescue him and also collapsed. Chand followed to save both and lost consciousness. All three died.

The deceased were the sole earning members of their households, leaving behind dependent children, spouses, and elderly parents facing severe economic uncertainty. DASAM’s preliminary findings point to serious violations of the Manual Scavenging Act, labour safety laws, and Supreme Court directives on sewer deaths.

DASAM has also raised serious concerns regarding the New Ashok Nagar septic tank death case from May 2026, where sanitation worker Vinod Kumar died and Dharmendra sustained serious injuries. The fact-finding revealed anomalies in the FIR and investigation process, including refusal to provide the FIR copy to the family, lack of transparency about legal provisions invoked, absence of clarity on arrests, attempts to blame the workers, and the failure to invoke both the Manual Scavenging Act and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act despite clear caste dimensions.

Structural Failures and Impunity

DASAM’s documentation highlights recurring structural failures across states. Police routinely fail to register FIRs under the Manual Scavenging Act, instead treating deaths as mere accidental or negligent workplace incidents. Most sanitation workers are employed through informal contractors or subcontractors without written contracts, insurance, healthcare, labour protections, or social security. Contractorisation enables impunity: employers deny responsibility, municipal agencies distance themselves, contractors often abscond, and prosecutions remain extremely weak. Convictions are rare despite repeated fatalities.

Compensation remains inconsistent. Despite Supreme Court directives mandating Rs 30 lakh compensation for every sewer or septic tank death, many families receive nothing, delayed payments, partial amounts, or informal settlements. Long-term rehabilitation—including government jobs, pensions, housing, educational support, and livelihood rehabilitation—is largely absent. This pushes already vulnerable Dalit and working-class families deeper into poverty.

Beyond immediate fatalities, sanitation labour causes severe long-term health damage, including respiratory illnesses, toxic gas exposure, lung damage, skin diseases, neurological disorders, chemical burns, chronic infections, and psychological trauma. Occupational health monitoring is almost nonexistent.

The overwhelming majority of workers forced into this labour belong to Dalit communities, especially the Valmiki community, along with other historically oppressed caste groups and migrant labourers. Manual scavenging is therefore not merely a labour issue but a manifestation of caste hierarchy, untouchability, structural violence, economic coercion, and institutional discrimination.

These continuing deaths constitute caste-based structural violence and violate Article 14 (equality before law), Article 17 (abolition of untouchability), Article 21 (right to life and dignity), and Article 23 (protection from forced labour) of the Constitution of India. Sanitation workers are still being forced to enter toxic sewers and septic tanks with their bare bodies despite laws, court orders, and available technological alternatives. The deaths persist due to the absence of deterrence and accountability.

DASAM's Demands

DASAM has issued a series of urgent demands, including:

• Immediate registration of FIRs in all sanitation worker death cases under the Manual Scavenging Act, relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, labour laws, and the SC/ST Act.

• Independent time-bound judicial inquiries into every death.

• Immediate arrest of all responsible contractors, employers, and officials.

• Minimum compensation of Rs 30 lakh to every affected family, along with government jobs for dependents and full rehabilitation including housing, pension, education, and livelihood support.

• Complete mechanisation of sewer and septic tank cleaning.

• Nationwide audit of sanitation practices in municipalities and private industries.

• Criminal accountability for institutions permitting hazardous cleaning.

• Complete ban on subcontracting sanitation work to unregulated labour intermediaries.

• Recognition and registration of all sewer and septic tank deaths as cases of manual scavenging, ending the routine misclassification as negligence, accidental drowning, workplace accidents, or toxic gas exposure.

DASAM has also called for mandatory institutional training among police, district administrations, labour departments, municipal bodies, and judicial authorities on the provisions of the Manual Scavenging Act, 2013. It has demanded the constitution of dedicated monitoring committees at national, state, and district levels to track and prevent manual scavenging, ensure mechanisation, and monitor compliance. Strict punitive action including criminal prosecution, blacklisting, cancellation of contracts, and revocation of licenses must be taken against all violators.

DASAM stands in solidarity with the families of the deceased and demands that their names not be forgotten. Those responsible whether contractors, corporations, or state institutions must be held accountable.