Mangalore: Ban on Manual Scavenging Results in Overflowing Manholes

Naveen Menezes Gurpur
Pics: Spoorthy Ullal/ Ramesh Pandith
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

Mangalore, May 29: As per the Karnataka Manual Scavenging (Prohibition) Act, manual scavenging has been completely banned in the city. Case was registered on a person who indulged in manual scavenging and also on a contractor.
 
As an alternative, MCC provided scientific facilities to clean manholes using jet sucker machines along with other equipment which forcibly push air and water to clear the blocks in the manholes.

It is learnt that despite having the Act and modern methods in place, the district has witnessed several instances of labourers cleaning underground drainage (UGD) manholes and toilet pits manually.

However, as the law turned stricter day by day, no contractor or labourer in the city is ready to clean up the blocked manholes manually. Hence, the move has created a whole lot of problems in the city.

Reliable sources said that using scientific methods as an alternative to actually getting down into the manholes is not a foolproof solution. The drainage pipes are not always placed straight, and hence the blockade is obvious. Also, some of the repair works on drainage pipes have been suspended half-way since more than a month.

The blockade usually happens near the girls’ hostels, hospitals or flats. Plastic blocks the flow and it needs to be removed as it does not get dissolved, the source said.

No one in the city is ready to get down to clear the blockade and the manholes are left in the same condition for months together in stinking condition. After several days, the authorities finally deployed labourers to clean up the area in Dongarkery.

Some of the areas where drainage is overflowing are Milagres, Dongarekery, and Pandeshwar where the pipeline is not able to sustain the heavy force and is bursting up, emanating foul smell in the area. No private owner recruits labourers to clean it up due to the strict law.

People in the affected areas lamented that the scientific methods are not actually practical especially when stones or other hard materials are the manholes. The MCC does not repair it immediately either. If no action is taken, the problem will soon spread to the entire city, especially as the pipelines are old and of small sizes.