By Haqnawaz Qayoom

One morning in Anantnag, a sanitation worker was sent down into a clogged sewer. He wore no safety gear. The rope tied around his waist snapped. He fell into the pit and lost consciousness. By the time help arrived, he was gone.

His death didn’t make the news. No compensation was offered and no case was registered under the law that prohibits manual scavenging.

This practice, cleaning human waste by hand, is illegal in India under the 2013 Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act. Yet it continues silently, across the country and here in Kashmir.

Nationally, over 770,000 people are estimated to still do this work. In 2021 alone, India recorded 58,098 deaths linked to manual scavenging. Most died from inhaling poisonous gases inside septic tanks or sewer lines. Many more were left with chronic lung disease, skin infections, and no support.

In Kashmir, official numbers are hard to find. But the practice persists in both urban and rural areas. Septic tanks in homes, hotels, and hospitals are often........

© Kashmir Observer