Mumbai: Manual Scavenging Still Prevalent in Bandra Despite Ban

In a startling discovery, manual scavenging - a practice that was banned in India more than ten years ago - remains prevalent in the Bandra area of Mumbai. The Mumbai North Central Member of Parliament and President of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee, Professor Varsha Eknath Gaikwad, recently posted a video and statement on X regarding this problem, which has subsequently attracted many users on the internet. "Manual scavenging. In Bandra. In 2025," she wrote, expressing her shock that such activities continue despite legislative prohibitions and numerous Supreme Court rulings supporting the safety and dignity of sanitation workers. She reported seeing a man endanger his life by going into a manhole without a safety harness or other protective equipment.

Taking to X, she posted, “Manual scavenging. In Bandra. In 2025. Over a decade after India passed a law banning this inhuman practice, and despite multiple Supreme Court judgments demanding dignity, safety, and protective gear for sanitation workers - we are still here. Watching a man enter a manhole with no safety harness, no protection. Just his body. His life. At stake. I'm being told that this is private work being done in a residential society and not part of any civic project. This underlines the harsh truth; our society never really wanted to end this cruelty. We want clean drains, but we look away when a human being is made to crawl into filth. We pride ourselves on AI and automation, but can’t seem to automate dignity.”

Manual scavenging. In Bandra. In 2025.

Over a decade after India passed a law banning this inhuman practice, and despite multiple Supreme Court judgments demanding dignity, safety, and protective gear for sanitation workers—we are still here. Watching a man enter a manhole with… pic.twitter.com/qX8BBCyCai

— Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) March 28, 2025

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She further says that this act is not only illegal but a stain on our society. She also made an appeal to the authorities to take action against the private firms that still carry out Manual scavenging. She said, “This is not just illegal, it is a stain on our collective conscience. I urge the authorities to crack down on private contractors indulging in this practice. Book them. Penalise them. Make an example out of them. And to citizens; do not hire such contractors. You are not just breaking the law, you're breaking a human soul.”

She further added that machines exist to do this cleaning work. Technologies are available. What’s missing is our will. Let us be clear—manual scavenging isn’t just a job, it’s a human rights violation. We are the richest civic body, surely we can find a way to ensure residents have access to automated solutions and are encouraged to go for the same.

Urging to bring an end to this, she wrote, “We must end it. Not tomorrow. Not with another policy but with collective responsibility, now!”

Other people on X also criticised this incident in the comments. A user wrote, “Manual scavenging is one of the most urgent areas where I hope to see robots and AI bring change — replacing human involvement and restoring dignity as soon as possible.” Another user wrote, “We’re never gonna change as long as the labor remains cheap.”

On the contrary, another used criticised her for being vocal about this issue. He wrote, “Why would you care ??? All you will do is ask for reservations and when machines are brought it...go on a protest against loss of jobs due to it!”