KARACHI: Civil society members on Saturday staged a protest in front of the Karachi Press Club to demand an end to the “dehumanising” practice of manual sewer cleaning and the entry of sanitation workers into sewage gutters.

They called for such cleaning work to be carried out through mechanical means and with proper safety gear by employees of the sewerage boards across the country, instead of hiring third-party workers through contractors.

Speaking on this occasion, artist and educator Rumana Husain said sanitation workers died every year while cleaning sewers without protective equipment and were exposed to toxic gases and other hazards. She described the practice as unjust and dehumanising and criticised the government for failing to take effective measures despite the repeated deaths of sanitation workers.

Occupational Health and Safety expert Naeem Sadiq said when a third-party worker from a poor background dies inside a sewer or as a result of cleaning work, no institution accepts responsibility, leaving the worker’s family to suffer.

Activists demand FIRs against sewerage boards, officials responsible for deaths of sanitation workers

Therefore, he said, deaths during sewer cleaning should be treated as the liability of the institutions and officials who send workers into sewers. He demanded that FIRs be registered against officials and institutions responsible for such deaths and that the families of deceased workers be paid compensation of at least Rs5 million.

Dr Jaipal Chhabria said the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation and other institutions in the country had sewer-cleaning machines and should use them instead of sending workers into sewage gutters. He said that where institutions lacked the required equipment, the government should purchase it, adding that public funds were available for the purpose.

Dr Chhabria said the continuation of manual sewer cleaning projected a negative image of Pakistan, as the developed world had moved away from the practice and relied on machines while treating sanitation workers with dignity and respect.

Zahid Farooq of the Urban Resource Centre, who is also a petitioner in a case against manual scavenging, said sanitation workers and their families should be provided social and financial protection, particularly in the event of a worker’s death.

He called for an end to the exploitation of sanitation workers and said they should be treated with dignity and respect.

The Reform Pakistan Movement said legal action should be taken against the CEOs of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation, Hyderabad Water and Sewerage Corporation and the Water and Sewerage Agencies in Punjab over the deaths of sanitation workers.

The protesters chanted slogans and stressed that such demonstrations would continue unless a ban on manual sewer cleaning were announced.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2026