Legal Interventions in Cases of Deaths during Manual Scavenging
Till 2013, The Employment of Manual Scavenger and Construction of Dry Laterines (Prohibition) Act 1993 was in force which prohibited construction of dry latrines and employment of persons as manual scavengers. But the 1993 Act penalized both the person employing and the person employed. As a result, not a single case under the Act was brought forward. The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013, reversed this and penalized only the employer while expanding the definition of manual scavenging to include not just disposing of excreta from dry latrines but also cleaning of sewers, soak pits or open drains which brought workers in touch with the excreta. The years before and passing of the Act had seen repeated incidents of deaths of persons while engaged in cleaning work in the nature of manual scavenging. Safaikarmachari Kavulu Samithi (SKKS) has been inquiring into incidents of such fatalities occurring during acts of manual scavenging and fighting for justice for the families of the victims including compensation as per Supreme Court Directions in Safaikarmachari Andolan vs UOI and the provisions of the 2013 Act. Along with this, SKKS along with human rights organizations, also ensure that FIRs are filed against the guilty officials and contractors as per Sec 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the 2013 Act.
Till June 2021, 90 persons had died in cases of manual scavenging as per the data maintained by SKKS and PUCL-Karnataka.
Table 1: List of Manual Scavenging deaths maintained by PUCL – Karnataka and
Safaikarmachari Kavulu Samithi – Karnataka
| Sl. No. | Date and place of accident | Victims |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5th May 1995 at Karinanjanpur, Harijan Beedhi, Kondadamaalaga, Chamarakanagara | 1 person deceased: Shri Chinnaswamy |
| 2 | 3rd December 1998 at Channarayapayna, Hassan | 3 person deceased: Shri Maranna, Shri Narasimharaju and Shri Nagaraju |
| 3 | 2001-02 in Mysuru district | 1 person deceased Shri Shrishankar (27 years) |
| 4 | 9th April 2008 at K.R. Nagar in Mysore district | 2 persons deceased: Shri Kariya (38 years) and Shri Lakshmanna (40) and 4 persons injured |
| 5 | 5th July 2008 at Velankanni Pvt. Ltd. in Electronic City, Bangalore | 2 persons deceased: Shri Krishnappa, (35 years) and Shri Ramchandra (25 years) and 1 person injured |
| 6 | 14th November 2008 at dairy circle near Telecom Exchange Quarters, Yelahanka New Town, Bangalore | 3 persons deceased: Shri Amaresh (23 years), Shri Narasimha (32 years) and Shri Srinivas (23 years) |
| 7 | 9th May 2009 at Karimsaab Layout (also known as Srigandhanagar), Hegganahalli Cross, Peenya 2nd Stage, Bangalore | 3 persons deceased: Shri Rajanna (35 years), Shri Shivu, (33 years) and Shri Pampanna, (35 years) |
| 8 | 11th December 2010 at R.T.O. in Kolar city | 2 persons deceased: Shri Manjunath and Shri Rajanna |
| 9 | 9th July, 2011, at Poornarama Coffee Estate at Kenchammana Hoskote, Alur Taluk, Hassan District | 2 persons deceased: Shri Mahadeva and Shri Arjuna |
| 10 | 24th October, 2011, at Kolar Gold Fields | 3 persons deceased: Shri Kutty Prasad, Shri Nagendra Babu, and Shri Ravi |
| 11 | 6th November, 2011 in Kinnigoli town, Dakshina Kannada district | 1 person deceased: Shri Kitta Koraga |
| 12 | 17th December, 2011 in Tiptur, Tumkur District | 2 person deceased: Shri Jagadish and Shri Dharma |
| 13 | 16th February, 2012 in Dharwad | 1 person deceased: Shri Yakub Yalapati and 1 person injured |
| 14 | 14th July, 2012 in Arakere, Bannerghatta Road | 2 persons deceased: Shri Shankarappa from Gulbarga and Shri Bogan from Andhra Pradesh |
| 15 | 22nd July, 2012 in Channayakpuri, Hubli | 2 persons deceased Shri Ramesh and Shri Santosh |
| 16 | 23rd November, 2012 in Royal Orchid hotel, Shimoga | 2 persons deceased Shri Annappa and Shri Ratnakar |
| 17 | 1st April 2013 at Girija slum, Mandya town | 1 person deceased Shri Rangappa |
| 18 | 28th April, 2013 to 1st May, 2013 at Raichur | 1 person deceased Shri Venkatesh |
| 19 | 25th October 2013 in Peenya, Bangalore | 2 persons deceased Shri. Prahalad Kumar and Shri. Rohit Kumar |
| 20 | 18th January, 2014 at K.P. Agrahara, Bangalore | 1 person deceased Shri Chenchaiah |
| 21 | 2nd March 2014, Kalpana Lodge, Mysore | 1 person dead Kumar 29yrs |
| 22 | 30th August 2014at Mahadevapura, Bengaluru | 1 person deceased |
| 23 | 24th September, 2014 Saray Palya, Nagwaara, Bangalore | 2 persons dead Sridhar, Davanagere and Pandri, Kudligi |
| 24 | 1st April 2015, Hubli | 2 Persons dead Suphal, West Bengal, Hanumantha, Telangana |
| 25 | 5th May 2015, Kamdoli Village, Kundagola, Hubli | 2 Persons dead Krishna (32) and Maaruti Gollar (35) residents of Kundagol town |
| 26 | 26th May 2015 at Kemmanagudi, Kirshnarajendra Giridhama, Pravasi Mandira, Chikkamangalur | 1 person deceased Shri Narasimha |
| 27 | 5th July, Yelhanka at Attur Layout Bangalore | 2 Persons dead Shamim Akhtar (19) from West Bengal and Sharanegowda Patil (23) from Kalburgi |
| 28 | 18 August 2015 at Jayamahal Extension near H Anjaneya & U T Khadar residence | 2 persons dead Prasanna Kumar, Tumkur district Yathiraj @ Seit, Kadugondanahally |
| 29 | 8 November 2015 at a house in Raghuvanahalli on Kanakpura Main Road | 2 Persons dead Srinivas (45) and his son Bhaskar (24) from Guntur district |
| 30 | 28, November 2015, Saraswathi Puram, Tumkur | 2 persons dead Narasimha murthy and Chikkanna, Kuripalya colony, Tumkur |
| 31 | 14th December 2015, Royal Apartment, Electronic city, Bangalore | 3 persons dead, Jagadeesh, KR Pet Mandya, Ranjeeth,Balasoore, Odissa, Mahesh from Nepal |
| 32 | 3rd April 2016 at Kasbagh Road in Sirnigar in Doddaballapura Town | 4 persons dead, Muniswamy, Shravanur, Dharmapuri dist, TN, Jaganath, Moolathimmanhalli, Palmaneru taluk, Chittur, dist. Citizens went to rescue them also dead are Madhu Vanniganahalli, Doddaballapur taluk and Muniraj, Hamam village, Doddaballapur taluk. |
| 33 | 18th Oct 2016 Shantiniwas Apartments, Near Yeshwantpur Railway Stattion, Bengaluru | 2 persons dead, Venkatramana (24), Dalit, Madhugiri taluk, Tumkur Manjunath (30), Lingayat, Mysuru |
| 34 | 7th March 2017 Kaggadaspura Main Road, Opp Centre for Artifical Intelligence and Robotics, C V Raman Nagar Bengaluru | 3 Persons dead, Erraiah (35) Srikakulam Davitha Naidu (40), Srikakulam Anjaneya Reddy (34), Prakasham Erraiah and Davitha went inside a manhole. When Anajaneya Reddy went to rescue he also died. (All married with 2 children each) |
| 35 | 9th May 2017 Udbur Village, 15 Km from Mysuru City | 1 Person dead, Manju (30), Dalit was electrocuted while cleaning a septic tank. |
| 36 | 2nd June 2017 Jatti Dwaraka Apartments ECC Road, Whitefield Bangalore | 1 Person dead Prithivi Raj (23) died while Raju (17) and Dinesh (24) survived while cleaning a STP |
| 37 | 7 Feb 2018, Prestige Langleigh Apartment complex, Whitefield, Bengaluru | 1 person dead: Shri Rajappa (38) |
| 38 | 6 Jan 2018 N D Sepal Apartments, Somasundarpallya, Bengaluru | 3 Person dead Madegowda (45), Srinivas (52) and contractor Narayanswamy (43) died while cleaning STP |
| 39 | 13 Feb 2018 Yumloka Resaturant, AECS Layout, Bengaluru | 2 persons dead Ramu (25) and Ravi (28) died while cleaning STP |
| 40 | 6 Aug 2018 RML Nagara, Dodapette PS, Shivamogga Town | 2 persons dead Venkatesh (40) and Benchikattaiah Anjanappa (18) from Bilachodu Hobli, Jaglur Taluka, Davangere |
| 41 | 2 March 2019 Jai Hind International School, Beguru PS, Bengaluru | 1 person dead Manu (25), from Hongasandra near Bomanahalli |
| 42 | 2 April 2019 Indi, Vijayapura | 3 persons dead: Shri Nabi Lal Rehman Saab Yekkewal (26) Shri Budusaab Bhagwaan (45) Shri Mudukappa Kattimani (35) |
| 43 | 27 April 2019 Kadugondanahalli Bengaluru | 2 persons deceased: Shri Gafoor Pasha (45) and Shri Aftab Pasha (38) |
| 44 | 11 August 2019 Karwar, Uttara Kannada | 1 Person deceased Shri Kuttaiah (51) |
| 45 | 25 Januray 2020 Bengaluru | 2 person deceased Shri Sidappa (18) and Shri Muniyanna (45) |
| 46 | 28 January 2021 Gulbarga | 2 person deceased Rashid (34) and Lal Ahmed (30) |
| 47 | 04 June 2021 Ramanagara | 3 person deceased Rajesha (32), Manjunatha (32) and Manjunatha (32) |
Based on the data compiled by PUCL-Karnataka and Safaikarmachari Kavulu Samithi – Karnataka and archival research from newspaper reports, the Karnataka State Safaikarmachari Commission had compiled the following official list. The discrepancy between the two lists is on account of the fact that, for inclusion in the official list, there has to be a FIR in the police station. Although in most cases where SKKS intervened, FIRs have been filed, there are some cases where that was not the case and hence they have not been included in the official list for providing compensation.
As on 05.08.2017, out of 6.7 crores to be provided as compensation (67 x 10 Lakhs), the government had disbursed 3.95 crores to the families of the deceased.
Table 2: List of Manual Scavenging deaths till 2017 maintained by Karnataka State Safaikarmachari Commission
| S. No. | Year | District | Date of Incident | Name of the MS/SK | Age (years) | Place of Incident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 1 | 1995-96 | Chamrajnagara | 05.05.1995 | Chinnaswami | Karinanjanapura, Harijana Beedi, Kondadamalade, Chamrajanagara | |
| 2 | 1998-99 | Hassan | 03.12.1998 | Maranna | Chennarayapatana, Hassan | |
| 3 | 1998-99 | Hassan | 03.12.1998 | Narsimharaju | ||
| 4 | 1998-99 | Hassan | 03.12.1998 | Nagaraju | ||
| 5 | 2001-02 | Mysuru | Shankar | Mysuru | ||
| 6 | 2007-08 | Hubli-Dharwad | 06.04.2007 | Shankar Kumar | Hubli-Dharwad | |
| 7 | 2007-08 | Hubli-Dharwad | 06.04.2007 | Shivaputrappa | ||
| 8 | 2008-09 | Mysuru | 09.04.2008 | Kariya | 38 | K R Nagar, Mysuru |
| 9 | 2008-09 | Mysuru | 09.04.2008 | Lakshmana | 40 | |
| 10 | 2008-09 | Bangalore | 05.07.2008 | Krishnappa | 35 | Velankanna Pvt. Ltd |
| 11 | 2008-09 | Bangalore | 05.07.2008 | Ramchandra | 25 | Electronic City |
| 12 | 2008-09 | Bangalore | 14.11.2008 | Amaresh | 23 | Yelhanka New Town (Dairy Circle) |
| 13 | 2008-09 | Bangalore | 14.11.2008 | Narasimha | 32 | |
| 14 | 2008-09 | Bangalore | 14.11.2008 | Srinivas | 23 | |
| 15 | 2009-10 | Bangalore | 9.05.2009 | Rajanna | 35 | Karim Saab Layout, Penya, 2 nd Stage |
| 16 | 2009-10 | Bangalore | 9.05.2009 | Shivu | 33 | |
| 17 | 2009-10 | Bangalore | 9.05.2009 | Pampanna | 35 | |
| 18 | 2010-11 | Kolar | 11.12.2010 | Manjunath | RTO Kolar City | |
| 19 | 2010-11 | Kolar | 11.12.2010 | Rajanna | ||
| 20 | 2011-12 | Hassan | 09.07.2011 | Mahadeva | Poornarama Coffee Estate, Kenchammana Hoskote, Alluru Taluka, Hassan | |
| 21 | 2011-12 | Hassan | 09.07.2011 | Arjun | ||
| 22 | 2011-12 | Kolar | 24.10.2011 | Kutti Prasad | KGF, Kolar | |
| 23 | 2011-12 | Kolar | 24.10.2011 | Nangendra Babu | ||
| 24 | 2011-12 | Kolar | 24.10.2011 | Ravi | ||
| 25 | 2011-12 | Dakshina Kannada | 06.11.2011 | Kitta Koraga | Kinnigoli Town, Dakshina Kannada | |
| 26 | 2011-12 | Tumkuru | 17.12.2011 | Jagadish | Tipturu, Tumkuru | |
| 27 | 2011-12 | Tumkuru | 17.12.2011 | Dharma | ||
| 28 | 2011-12 | Dharwad | 16.02.2012 | Yakoob Yalapati | Dharwad | |
| 29 | 2012-13 | Bangalore | 14.07.2012 | Shankarappa | Arekere, Bannerghatta Road | |
| 30 | 2012-13 | Bangalore | 14.07.2012 | Bogaan | ||
| 31 | 2012-13 | Hubli | 22.07.2012 | Ramesh | Chanakyapuri, Hubbali | |
| 32 | 2012-13 | Hubli | 22.07.2012 | Santosh | ||
| 33 | 2012-13 | Shivamogga | 23.11.2012 | Anappa | Royal Orchid Hotel, Shivamogga | |
| 34 | 2012-13 | Shivamogga | 23.11.2012 | Ratnakara | ||
| 35 | 2013-14 | Mandya | 01.04.2013 | Rangaswamy | Girija Slum, Mandya Town | |
| 36 | 2013-14 | Raichuru | 28.04.2013 | Venkatesh | Raichuru | |
| 37 | 2013-14 | Bangalore | 25.10.2013 | Prahlad Kumar | Penya, Bengaluru | |
| 38 | 2013-14 | Bangalore | 25.10.2013 | Rohit Kumar | ||
| 39 | 2013-14 | Mysuru | 03.03.2014 | Kumar | Mysuru | |
| 40 | 2014-15 | Chikkabalapurra | 06.04.2014 | Nakshatra | Shankarapura, Chikkabalapura | |
| 41 | 2013-14 | Bangalore | 24.09.2014 | Shridhar Nagarajappa | 20 | Naagwara |
| 42 | 2013-14 | Bangalore | 24.09.2014 | Badrimarappa | 22 | |
| 43 | 2015-16 | Hubli | 01.04.2015 | Hanumantavardayya | Hubli-Dharwad | |
| 44 | 2015-16 | Hubli | 01.04.2015 | Sufal Biswas | ||
| 45 | 2015-16 | Hubli | 05.05.2015 | Krishna | 32 | Kamdoli Village, Kundagola, Hubli |
| 46 | 2015-16 | Hubli | 05.05.2015 | Maaruti | 35 | |
| 47 | 2015-16 | Chikkamangaluru | 26.05.2015 | Narasimha | Kammanugundi, Krishnarajendra Giridhama, Pravasi Mandira, Chikkamangaluru | |
| 48 | 2015-16 | Bangalore | 05.07.2015 | Shamim Akhtar | 19 | Yelhanka, Bengaluru |
| 49 | 2015-16 | Bangalore | 05.07.2015 | Sharanegowda Patil | 23 | |
| 50 | 2015-16 | Bangalore | 15.08.2015 | Setu alias Suresh | 21 | Jayamahal |
| 51 | 2015-16 | Bangalore | 18.08.2015 | Prasanna Kumar | 24 | Jayamahal |
| 52 | 2015-16 | Tumkuru | 29.11.2015 | Chikanna | 37 | Saraswatipuram, Tumkuru |
| 53 | 2015-16 | Tumkuru | 29.11.2015 | Narasimhamurthy | 52 | |
| 54 | 2015-16 | Bangalore | 14.12.2015 | Jagadish | 23 | Chikkabeguru, Bengaluru |
| 55 | 2015-16 | Bangalore | 14.12.2015 | Mahesh | 22 | |
| 56 | 2015-16 | Bangalore | 14.12.2015 | Rajan | 22 | |
| 57 | 2016-17 | Bengaluru Rural | 03.04.2016 | Madhu | 21 | Doddaballapura, Bengaluru Rural |
| 58 | 2016-17 | Bengaluru Rural | 03.04.2016 | Muniraju | 23 | |
| 59 | 2016-17 | Bengaluru Rural | 03.04.2016 | Jagannath | 35 | |
| 60 | 2016-17 | Bengaluru Rural | 03.04.2016 | Muniswami | 45 | |
| 61 | 2016-17 | Bangalore | 18.10.2016 | Venkatesh | 24 | RNS Shantiniwas, Yeshwantpur, Bengaluru |
| 62 | 2016-17 | Bangalore | 18.10.2016 | Majunath | 32 | |
| 63 | 2016-17 | Bangalore | 06.03.2017 | Anjaneyya Reddy | 35 | Kaggadaspura Main Road, CV Raman Nagar, Bengaluru |
| 64 | 2016-17 | Bangalore | 06.03.2017 | Datta Eriya | 35 | |
| 65 | 2016-17 | Bangalore | 06.03.2017 | Tatta Tavitha | 40 | |
| 66 | 2017-18 | Bangalore | 24.05.2017 | Prithvi Raj | 24 | ECC Road, Jatti Dwarkamayi Apartments, Whitefield, Bengaluru |
| 67 | 2017-18 | Mysuru | 09.05.2017 | Manjunath | 30 | Udbur Village, Doora GP, Mysuru |
- Case Report (2023/12/23): Death of Two Maintenance Workers in the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) at Shahi Exports Pvt. Ltd.
- Case Report (28/01/2021): 2 persons die in a manhole in Kalaburagi
- Report: Manual Scavenging in Karnataka - A Situation Assessment
- Case Report (02/03/2019): Death of a Worker in a Septic Tank of a Private School at Beguru in Bengaluru
- Case Report (17-27 Feb 2018): Manual Scavenging during religious festival at Shravanbelegola in Hassan district, Karnataka
- Press Release (14/02/2018): Government apathy and inaction leads to two more preventable manual scavenging deaths in Bengaluru
- Press Release (31/01/2018): The STP that killed 3 workers at N D Sepal Apartments shouldn’t have been operating in the first place