Has manual scavenging stopped? Supreme Court seeks reports from 6 metros

The Supreme Court recently said that it intends to stop the practice of manual scavenging and manual sewer cleaning in the six top metropolitan cities in India - Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad [Dr Balram Singh v. Union of India and Ors]..Towards this end, a bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Aravind Kumar directed the Chief Executive Officers of the six cities to submit detailed affidavits to the Supreme Court before February 13, outlining when and how manual scavenging and manual sewer cleaning were eliminated in their respective cities."We, therefore, direct that the Chief Executive Officers (by whatever name he/she is called the State) of each of the abovementioned Metropolitan cities to file precise affidavit(s) before this Court apprising as to how and when manual scavenging and manual sewer cleaning was stopped in their Metropolitan city...Let the requisite affidavit(s) be filed on or before 13.02.2025, a copy of which shall be supplied to the Union of India and to the Ld. Amicus Curiae in advance," the order passed on January 29 directed..In October 2023, the Apex Court had issued fourteen directions aimed at eradicating manual scavenging in India. The Court had noted that the Union and State governments are duty-bound to make sure that manual scavenging is completely eradicated.When the matter was heard in December 2024, the Court directed the Union of India in December last year to coordinate with all the States and other stakeholders and gather feedback from each State regarding the extent to which manual scavenging and manual sewer cleaning have been stopped. The Union of India was asked to file an affidavit providing a state-wise breakdown.In compliance with the above order, a detailed affidavit was filed by the Union of India. It informed the Court that out of 775 districts across the country, manual scavenging and manual sewer cleaning are not being carried out in 456 districts.However, after reviewing the submissions by the Centre on January 29, the Court observed a lack of clarity regarding whether manual sewer cleaning has been entirely eradicated in metropolitan cities..Therefore, the Court said that it intends to stop the manual scavenging and manual sewer cleaning in all major metropolitan cities."We hereby intend to stop the manual scavenging and manual sewer cleaning in all the top Metropolitan cities of the country viz. a) Delhi b)Mumbai c) Kolkata d) Chennai e) Bangalore and f) Hyderabad. We have also been informed at the Bar that in all these Metropolitan cities, which we have indicated above, all modern scientific machineries and tools are available for scavenging and sewer cleaning, without active human participation therefore manual scavenging and manual sewer cleaning should not be required," the Court said..The Court listed the matter for further consideration on February 19..[Read Order]