PIL in Bombay High Court on sewage deaths

Why is it in the news ?
  • Bombay High Court has issued notice to Maharashtra government and ordered them to file a reply while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning deaths of sewage workers in state.
More in the news
  • The PIL asked about the Mumbai Municipal Corporation for details of number of sewage workers who have died while manually scavenging.
  • RTI reply was that no deaths happened in Mumbai because the sewage lines were manually cleaned up.
  • According to the PIL, the provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (PEMSR Act, 2013) and the rules made thereunder (PEMSR Rules, 2013) are not being complied with.
  • Hence this Petition seeks issuance of urgent writs to ensure that the right to life of sewage workers is protected and those found violating the law are brought to justice.
  • Lack of protective gear has been cited as the reason for death.
  • Till date, not a sin­gle criminal conviction re­garding these deaths has been reported and most are classified as accidental deaths by police.
Source
The Hindu.
Posted by Jawwad Kazi on 19th Dec 2019
<< Previous Next >>