When a contractor asked 48-year-old Ranganathan to accompany two others to clean an overflowing septic tank of a resort located on the busy Chennai-Bengaluru highway at Sriperumbudur on Friday, October 21, he readily accepted the offer. Though he had been a cleaner before in an industrial estate, Ranganathan had never worked as a manual scavenger. For someone who lost his job six months ago, there were not many choices before him.
The dysfunctional septic tank at the Sathyam Grand Resort became a stinking watery grave for Ranganathan and two others – Naveen Kumar (27), and Thirumalai (20) – who ventured inside without protective gear. Though inexperienced, it was Ranganathan who entered the tank, filled with thick black sludge, first, to clear the blockage. The tank had a capacity of 50,000 litres, according to reports. When he failed to respond to their calls after a while, the two other workers Naveen Kumar and Thirumalai followed suit but became victims to toxic vapours, which frequently claim lives of workers engaged in manual scavenging, a practice that has been officially banned in India.
When a 14-year-old kid, also called Naveen Kumar, who went to buy breakfast for them returned, he realised something was amiss and raised an alarm. He alerted the resort employees who later called the police and the fire service. The recovery of the three bodies took around two hours as the tank was almost full. The bodies of Naveen Kumar and Thirumalai were retrieved around 12.30pm on Friday. It took half an hour more to retrieve the body of Ranganathan.
When TNM visited Ranganthan’s house in Kachipattu – a thatched single-room shack – a day after the tragedy, on October 22, there were a steady stream of visitors, mostly neighbours, offering condolences to Sumathi, his wife, and their two sons Ranjith and Ajith. “He never did this job before,” was a constant refrain as they shared their grief and details of the tragedy. “He had lost his job six months ago and when a contractor asked him to accompany Naveen and Thirumalai, he went with them," says Sumathi.
Ranganathan worked as a cleaner in a local SIPCOT, short for State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamilnadu Ltd, estate for four years, and in several canteens, but manual scavenging was not his line of work, though many in his locality followed the occupation, which is officially banned.
Kachipattu, a Scheduled Caste colony that houses 2,500 families, lies on the backside of the Sriperumbudur government hospital. The colony had lost two of its residents Amudhan and Kesavan, a decade ago to manual scavenging. Now the tragedy has returned, claiming three more of its residents to the inhuman occupation. Amudhan and Kesavan, who were employees of the Sriperumbudur panchayat died after they were asphyxiated while cleaning the open pits in December 2012.
In 2021, three workers of a catering firm had died after they entered a septic tank for cleaning at Katrambakkam near Sriperumbudur. In 2019, the region reported six deaths, including three members of one family, after they entered a septic tank that was cleaned.
Manual scavenging is not a hereditary occupation for people of Kachipattu colony and only one of the many works they did as part of their livelihood, according to a resident. "We often go to clean smaller tanks in residential areas and many private companies. We first check the depth of the sludge. If it is above our knees, we usually don't work on it" says Ajith Kumar, a resident of Kachipattu, who is into manual scavenging for more than a decade now. Despite the mishap in 2012 and a greater awareness regarding the risks involved, saying no to manual scavenging is not easy for many. "What should I do when I have to feed my kid and this is the only job I was offered, all the time?" asks Ajith Kumar, one among the 20 more men, who are still cleaning septic tanks, open pits and insanitary latrines. For a day’s work, Ajith says he gets paid Rs 600 to Rs 700.
Rangathan’s obituary poster in Kachipattu
Naveen Kumar, who lost his life on Friday was an ‘apprentice’ of Ajith Kumar, who had picked up the ‘techniques of the trade’ while he was a school student. He later became a truck driver. "He used to drive a sewage suction truck. He knew how to clean the septic tank but his work was more about pumping out effluents from septic tanks and driving the truck," says Narmadha, his sister. It was unusual for him to enter a septic tank for cleaning. If he needed help, he would take it from other workers. “He never stepped into the septic tank before. It might be one of the reasons why he couldn't get out of this septic tank," says Narmadha.
The festival of Deepavali was around the corner and Naveen might have been looking for some more money to meet the needs. “He could have joined others for some extra cash in hand during Deepavali,” says Subbulakshmi, his 25-year-old wife.
Bhavana, wife of 20-year-old Thirumalai, who lost his life in the mishap, is even younger. The 18-year-old had got married to Thirumalai five months ago. “He told me he was going to Meenambakkam airport for cleaning work," says Bhavana. Thirumalai is the youngest child of Parvathy and Raja. His elder sisters work in private companies. Parvathy, his mother, says Thirumalai never worked before. Even after his marriage, he was taken care of by his family members.
The families claim that all the three men were inexperienced and are not known to have taken up manual scavenging works before, though one of them, Naveen Kumar, used to operate septage suction trucks. The family members say that they are yet to receive details of the FIR filed against the resort management. When the residents of the colony rushed to the spot after being alerted by a 14-year-old child, who had accompanied them, the resort management refused to share details of the nature of the work assigned to the three workers and how they ‘disappeared’.
Sriperumbudur police officials said that Rajini, a contractor from Vengadu, and Murali, the resort manager have been arrested. Police are on the lookout for the resort owner Sathyamurthy.
They have been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) 304 (ii) (involuntary homicide) and sections 6, 7, and 9 of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
While this caste-based practice was first banned in India in 1993, it was made a punishable offence only in 2013, where anyone employing a manual scavenger, directly or indirectly, would be punished with imprisonment for a term or a penalty that may extend to Rs 50,000, or both.
However, none of the family members were ready to talk about the resort. "They are about to offer a huge sum of money to the victims' families. Why should we talk "badly" about the resort and make a fuss?" asks one of the residents of the colony, on the condition of anonymity.
Data from Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry shows how Dalit communities are forced into the manual scavenging. According to the survey conducted by the ministry, 48 manual scavengers lost their lives in Tamil Nadu, between 2017-2022 (till July), while engaged in manual scavenging of septic tanks, drains, and open pits. Tamil Nadu ranks second in the list while Uttar Pradesh tops with 51 deaths.
Speaking to TNM, Jayrani, senior journalist and social activist, alleged that manual scavenging is happening even inside the Secretariat and High Court campus. "No one has been punished under this Act ever since it was enacted. Often the police are instrumental in drawing a compromise between the families of victims and the companies or employers,” she alleges. The victims get a monetary compensation of Rs 10 lakh but prosecutions do not result in convictions, according to her. Some ‘hush money’ is also paid which ensures the cases do not become ‘big’ as kins stay silent. “How will such things stop if no one is held accountable for?” asks Jayrani.
Naveenkumar’s obituary poster in Kachipattu
Jayrani feels the issue is systemic and could have been effectively curtailed through judicial intervention. “Madras High Court could have taken up this issue as a suo motu and directed the state government to allocate funds for machines to clean sewage lines and septic tanks. But so far nothing has happened," says Jayrani, who has reported on manual scavenging for more than two decades and runs a campaign against the inhuman practice. Jayrani says we live in an era where science and technology is in the peak of progress but does not get adopted where it is needed the most. “Manual scavenging is seen only where caste-based discrimination prevails and our sewage systems are developed in such a way that clogging could be removed only through manual work,” says Jayrani.
The ruling Dravida Munnetta Kazhagam (DMK), in its manifesto for the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, had promised that manual scavenging will be eradicated and sanitary workers will be transferred to other jobs. The electoral promise appears under the Sanitation Workers’ Welfare section, number 281.
Right after DMK assumed office, Udhayanidhi Stalin, MLA, introduced a robotic machine to replace manual scavengers in his Chepauk constituency. Such automated machines were expected to be introduced in cities as part of the promise to eradicate manual scavenging. TNM reports have shown that manual scavenging cannot be wished away by merely investing on technology though it does reduce the burden on workers.