As many as 339 people died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks in India

According to government data, 339 individuals have died in India while cleaning sewers and septic tanks in the last five years.

Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale stated that nine such deaths occurred in 2023, 66 in 2022, 58 in 2021, 22 in 2020, 117 in 2019, and 67 in 2018. The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (PEMSR) Act of 2013 makes manual scavenging illegal.The Act prohibits the use of any individual for manually cleaning, conveying, disposing of, or otherwise handling human excreta in any way until its disposal.