No. of accidents in sewer, septic tanks brought down with Centre's initiatives, HC told

New Delhi, Jul 8 PTIThe Centre has told the Delhi High Court that it is seriously concerned with the tragic incidents of deaths while cleaning sewer and septic tanks and claimed that with its initiatives the number of such incidents has come down significantly.It said state governments are responsible for strict compliance with the law that prohibits manual scavenging and the rules mandate obligations of the employer to provide safety gear and devices and observe safety precautions before engaging any person in the cleaning of a sewer or a septic tank.

New Delhi, Jul 8 (PTI)The Centre has told the Delhi High Court that it is seriously concerned with the tragic incidents of deaths while cleaning sewer and septic tanks and claimed that with its initiatives the number of such incidents has come down significantly.

It said state governments are responsible for strict compliance with the law that prohibits manual scavenging and the rules mandate obligations of the employer to provide safety gear and devices and observe safety precautions before engaging any person in the cleaning of a sewer or a septic tank. ''The Centre is seriously concerned with the tragic incidents of deaths while cleaning sewer and septic tanks. Therefore, as and when such a case comes to its notice, the matter is immediately taken up with the concerned state government to ensure payment of compensation to the affected family members,'' it said in an affidavit.

It said when such incidents happen, the matter is also taken up with state government concerned for taking action against the persons or agencies responsible for engaging persons for hazardous cleaning of a sewer or septic tanks.

The centre said with the implementation of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, manual scavenging has been prohibited throughout the country.

The Centre's submissions were made in response to a petition seeking to ensure strict compliance with the 2013 law on manual scavengers to prevent loss of lives due to manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.

On Friday, a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad granted permission to petitioner advocate and social activist Amit Sahni to file suggestions to the Centre's affidavit and listed the matter for further hearing in September.

The Centre said sanitation is a 'State' subject and the state government is responsible for strict compliance with the 2013 Act which came into force with effect from December 6, 2013, in the country.

“Due to the initiatives, the number of tragic accidents in sewer and septic tanks has come down significantly,” it said.

It further said, “the deaths reported by the states/union territories are due to hazardous cleaning of sewer/ septic tanks, which has been prohibited by Act, 2013, except for in some extraordinary cases only with the approval of the competent authority as per the Act, 2013,” it said, adding that the government has brought in new initiatives like 'Swachhta Udyami Yojana, mobile app and health insurance benefits.

The high court had earlier issued notice and sought a response from the Centre, Delhi government, municipal bodies, Delhi Jal Board, Delhi Cantonment Board, and Public Works Department to the petition.

The court had remarked that the government spent so much money on election advertisements and it should spend some amount on sensitising people about manual scavenging as so many people die due to this practice every year.

Another petition of 2007 relating to the rehabilitation of manual scavengers is also pending in the high court which had termed as ''disgraceful'' the existence of manual scavenging in the city despite a law prohibiting such a practice. PTI SKV RKS RKS