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New Delhi: For much of April and May, the Public Works Department (PWD) in New Delhi was on a social media overdrive, especially on X, where it posted a series of photographs of workers manually cleaning drains.

On Tuesday (June 3), however, it removed these photographs and cleaned its social media timelines after one of these posts went viral and caused public backlash.

In these now-deleted posts, workers could be seen cleaning drains without gloves, boots, goggles, masks or any other kind of protective gear.

In some photographs, cleaners were seen even without shirts and shoes on, raising questions about the consequences of such work for their health as well as about whether the cleaners’ work could fall under the purview of manual scavenging law.

Dr Akshay Dongardive, national president of the Federation of All India Medical Associations, said: “This can cause skin ailments [and] amplify lung infections, and long-term exposure without care or precautions may be fatal.”

Earlier this year, the Delhi government had vowed before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to desilt 23 major drains in the state by May 31. Chief minister Rekha Gupta and PWD minister Parvesh Verma had reportedly met PWD officials last month to ensure that these deadlines were met. This is why workers all over Delhi are clearing its rainstorm drains.

In November 2024, the NGT had sought a report from the Delhi government on the action it would take to stop the flow of untreated sewage into rainwater drains.

It said that both the Delhi Jal Board and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) “are responsible for causing water pollution by permitting sewage of sanitary drains to be........

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