In Mumbai, anybody who has seen human beings entering a sewer to clean the muck will shudder with horror. However, this is common. This is still happening despite the 1993 Supreme court ban on manual cleaning of sewage, latrines and carrying of excreta describing them as affront to human dignity. In Maharashtra alone, 17 people lost their lives during 2019. (Mumbai Mirror, 26 Feb 2020, p10). Many such deaths go unnoticed or unreported.
Manual scavenging refers to the unsafe and manual removal of raw (fresh and untreated) human excreta from buckets or other containers that are used as toilets or from the pits of simple pit latrines. The safe and controlled emptying of pit latrines, on the other hand, is one component of faecal sludge management. The government calls them "manual scavengers" -people who clean latrines and sewers.
Let us get together to save lives & end manual scavenging using Robotics Solution for Manhole and Sewage Cleaning.
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