LAHORE: Jamshed has spent the last 15 years working, cleaning the streets. Starting from early morning till midday, Jamshed and other sweepers first collect at their designated UC office, to mark their attendance, and then carry on to do their work. “The work is very tough,” he says. “But without any other skills, I can’t do much.”

Despite the hard work that he puts in, Jamshed has chronic respiratory problems.

“I have a cold from time to time, and my cough is always there,” he complains.

His father, also a sweeper, died of lung cancer when Jamshed was only 15 years old. It was a harrowing time and this was a huge reason why he fell into the same occupation. In 2010 the Solid Waste Management Department, wholly run by the Government, was replaced by the Lahore Waste Management Company, still owned by the Government but run by Turkish contractors through outsourcing.

LWMC has an integrated system of collecting and disposing rubbish from the streets of the city, a large employee record where workers are given medical treatment, but this does not leave out the irony that as the city is cleaned, those who clean it are most endangered.

“By now I’ve become used to working in dust and pollution,” says Jamshed.

He is not the only one suffering from such health problems.

Parvez James, a contract employee since four years complains that illness is part of cleaning up. He has developed severe eczema patches on his skin, while he falls sick every now and then.

“We work in some of the worst circumstances,” he remarks. “Collecting domestic waste, which has probably the most human waste, some of us work in landfill sites, exposed to all sorts of bacteria. I think almost every month, I contract some kind of virus or infection.” At the same time he says that people are often rude, expecting them to even come inside their homes and do cleaning, which is not in their job description.

While James wears rubber gloves, he confesses that he does not wear a mask to protect his respiratory system. He has no answer when asked why.

Mohini, 46, who has been doing the same work too says that she also suffers from a bad skin problem, but expecting her to wear rubber gloves at high temperatures is something she cannot do.

“When it’s above 40 and we are doing work in the blazing temperatures outside, we are already in the worst of circumstances. Gloves will only add to the heat and we cant do that. We are used to working without this equipment, although this is what we are supposed to wear.”

Sohail Anwar Malik, Senior Manager Operations LWMC, says the company is careful to see that all equipment is provided to the workers, as per global standards. “Four times during the year we give them new uniforms, and they are given health and safety measures in any case like gloves, mask, cap, etc. In Lahore there is compliance to a large extent in wearing the uniform – in case they don’t, we do not mark their attendance and their day’s pay is cut. However the workers do not utilize the rest of the equipment.”

Malik says that the issue is that the workers ‘do not feel comfortable’.

“It’s basically a behavioral change which will come with time,” he says. “But it’s not like we don’t provide them with the gear.

In this case then the workers should be monitored and Sohail says that the inspectors at UC level and zonal officers have this inspection as their job responsibility.

Malik also says that the company is on the panel of a couple of state hospitals where the workers can easily get their treatment for free.

While those workers who clean the streets have issues, the more dire circumstances are faced by the Wasa sanitary workers.

“The Wasa workers who actually go down the drain – around 60 feet deep – often filled with poisonous gases – are the ones who suffer the worst,” says Rao Riaz, a leader in the Wasa sanitation workers trade union. “If the sanitation workers on the street fall sick, these workers who go deep underground to unblock sewerage and water pipes are actually at risk for death.”

Hair, plastic, wrappers, even rubber materials emerging from domestic waste often obstruct the flow in sewer pipes, which are unblocked manually.

“They say they have begun to use machinery to unblock in certain areas, but this is almost non-existent,” he says. “On top of it all what they are paid is appalling.”

In a breakdown of their payment, provided by Riaz, the workers’ ‘dangerous allowance’ is Rs10,000, (which is given randomly to those who actually go down the sewers) and field allowance is only Rs75 which includes opening the gutters, washing the uniform, etc.

Again, because of lack of awareness, those going down the drains do not use a safety belt as they feel it adds weight. The lower management is probably aware of this as they work closely with the sanitary workers, but the upper management might not know.

“As far as the top management goes, the workers receive training but only once a year,” he says. “But a lot more training needs to happen for their work is extremely dangerous.

“When we go down a sewer, we often light a piece of paper and throw it inside to see if there is oxygen inside or not. Often our brothers have died down there suffocating of gases,” says Ashok. “Every year some of us die, but this is never a big deal for anyone on the outside, not the government, nor the people.”

With each trip down the sewer – these workers don’t come to duty for the next two to three days, falling sick.

The one and only study on working conditions of sewer-men, done by the Minority Rights Commission in collaboration with Action Aid Pakistan, says that data collected from 1987 to 2007 indicated that at least around 100 of these workers have died due to exposure to poisonous monoxide gases in the city’s 10,000 disposal stations, lack of health and safety measures at work place and negligence of administration. From 2007 onwards also deaths have taken place, but with lack of consolidated research, there is no set figure which can be given.

However Deputy Managing Director Wasa Aslam Khan Niazi says that ‘these deaths are rare’. “If some happen, that is probably a coincidence they were not wearing any protective gear, but usually we have an entire team dedicated to checking that they wear their gear before entering a large manhole,” he says.

He also says that the workers receive training all year round on safety and health in their two training centres in Gulshan-e-Ravi and Township.

“We teach them how to check gas, and how to go down these sewers,” he says. “They are provided with helmets, gas masks, and belts.”

When asked about the pay scale, Niazi said that they were receiving pay that was better than government officials. “They receive special allowance of Rs10,000, and free medical treatment.”

He also waived away any kind of discriminatory attitude towards the workers saying ‘everyone respects people who clean’.

Sanitary worker Yasir does not seem to think so.

“The gutter is a place people make faces at and move away from – they treat us the same way quite often.”

The workers complain that standard operating procedures recently issued for them by the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) are merely a cosmetic measure and proper medical care is not provided to them properly. With the hours they work, especially in hazardous situations, their pay also is not enough as they live in chronic poverty.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2019