Aioo! Why Did A Manual Scavenger Die On Republic Day!

Vijeth Veerappa Saliyan
2 min readJan 26, 2020

--

A 17-year-old boy, Siddappa, died of suffocation after he was made to enter a sewage chamber in Bengaluru.

Siddappa was promised Rs 600 as wages for the job.

Manual Scavenging In India (Image for representational purposes)

Marianna, a labour contractor, hired Siddappa for the job.

Marianna went into the chamber to rescue Siddapp but fell unconscious. Doctors at Bowring Hospital said, “Marianna is put on a ventilator. His lungs are filled with sewage. His chances of survival are low.”

Manual Scavenging In India (Image for representational purposes)

Gangamma, Siddappa’s older sister said, “He left home at 6 am and we got a call at 2 pm from the police saying he is dead.”

ONE MANUAL SCAVENGER DIED EVERY FIVE DAYS WHILE CLEANING SEWAGE CHAMBER IN INDIA

Manual Scavenging In India (Image for representational purposes)

By the way there is a law banning manual scavenging work in India that exists from 1993. Just saying; seemed appropriate as we are 71st Republic Day.

Like, if possible, try sharing a bit of your outrage here also know. I mean only if you are free & have no other plans.

Manual scavenging is a caste-based occupation. But why bother talking about caste. We are far too cool & urbane for that.

The feet that stood around & just looked on… Manual Scavenging In India (Image for representational purposes)

Have a good weekend!

--

--

Vijeth Veerappa Saliyan

Nothing exists is black or white — And More often than not truth exists in the grey matter (pun intended).