IT STINKS! SEWER DIVERS IN WORKING CONDITIONS BACKLASH

The sewer divers of Delhi wade through human waste for just £3 (Rs 300) a day, regardless of their level of experience.

Dubbed 'manual scavengers', the workers risk their lives to unclog the Indian city's maze-like drains, working seven days a week - with only ONE day off each month.

Kumar Gaurav, 23, is provided with a bottle of locally-made alcohol to dull his senses before he begins his descent.

He often spends up to six hours a day immersed in the sewage, forced to endure the extreme smells and sights of the sewer divers' subterranean world.

Kumar said: “I never wanted to do this job but I couldn’t study due to poverty. When my father died I inherited his job.”




The divers tend to be from the lower castes of Indian society with little-to-no education.

Another diver, 25-year-old Naresh, said: “Thirty days a month we have to go through this. We have no union which can fight for our rights.

“We don’t even get a holiday. So the day we don’t work, we don’t get paid.

"Sometimes when the drains are really narrow we are scared. But we don’t have an option. When I enter a drain I don’t know if I will come back alive.”

Harish, 33, added: “We should get weekly breaks with monthly salaries. A worker who dies in the process of cleaning should get compensation. We also need better equipment.”



The practice is banned by law in India, but the divers say the Indian government outsources the work to private companies who advertise for the workers.

Ved Prakash, president of the Delhi Labourer Association, said: "There are no rights for these workers. Pay varies from 200 to 300 rupees a day.

"The conditions they work in are unimaginable. They need to be employed by the government and have an official union."

Divers claim the protective clothing given to them to wear is oversized and creates the danger of becoming stuck in the drains.

Kumar said: “I might die if I am inside the drain naked but I will die for sure if I wear this clothing and enter the drain.

“Once a worker wore it and entered the drain, he got terribly stuck inside.”



Harish said: "I am forced to spend more than six hours at a time in the sewer only wearing my underwear. This leads to a lot of skin diseases.”


And the dirty work can cause problems at home for the divers.

Naresh said: "My wife doesn’t want to come close to me after I go home. She hates it when I smell of sewage. But I have accepted this now. This my own smell.

"No matter if I quit this job, I will still smell the sewage.”

A government official, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was concerned by the high risks associated with the sewer diving profession.

He said: “Almost 65-70 per cent of manual scavengers die on the job.

“An estimated 50 sewer divers have died in last six months alone.

“Divers are not protected from the harmful gasses released in the tunnels full of filth.”