A total of 125 workers have died across India between January and October 2, 2026, in incidents involving hazardous manual-entry sanitation work, including sewer and septic-tank cleaning, sewage-treatment plants, and other confined spaces, the advocacy group Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) said in a press release issued.
The deaths were documented across 20 States and Union Territories, with the highest tolls recorded in Bihar (14), Tamil Nadu (12), Haryana (11), Uttar Pradesh (10), and Meghalaya and Odisha (9 each). July was the deadliest month, with 28 deaths, followed by June (20) and May (19).
'Foreseeable and Preventable'
In its statement, DASAM condemned what it described as "a deeply entrenched system of caste-based occupational exclusion, contractor exploitation, informalisation of labour, institutional negligence, inadequate enforcement of the law, failure to mechanise hazardous sanitation work, absence of occupational safety systems and repeated failure to hold employers, contractors and public authorities" accountable.
The organisation stressed that these fatalities are not isolated accidents. "The continuing deaths are somewhat disturbing because the country already has a legal framework prohibiting manual scavenging and requiring rehabilitation, while the Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasised the need for mechanisation of hazardous sanitation work and adequate compensation for families of workers who die in sewers, septic tanks and other confined spaces," DASAM said.
The Rescue-Chain Pattern
A recurring feature of the documented incidents is the "rescue chain" — in which one worker collapses inside a tank or sewer and others enter unprotected to save them, multiplying the death toll. DASAM pointed to incidents in Raipur, Indore, Ujjain, Goraimari in Assam's Goalpara district, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Shillong, Tlangsam in Mizoram, and Chennai, among others.
"In many cases, one worker collapses inside a tank, chamber or sewer and another person immediately enters to rescue them, resulting in a chain of deaths. This recurring pattern demonstrates that these fatalities are foreseeable and preventable," the statement said.
July's Mass-Casualty Incidents
Among the most severe incidents was the July 10 tragedy in Shillong, Meghalaya, where five workers died inside a 33-foot underground water tank after a diesel generator brought into the confined space filled it with exhaust fumes. "The incident is an illustration of why diesel generators and combustion engines must never be introduced into poorly ventilated confined spaces without strict atmospheric monitoring and safety protocols," DASAM said.
In Odisha's Kalahandi district on May 26, at least six people died from suspected asphyxiation inside an under-construction septic tank — the single largest incident in the record. In Assam's Goalpara, a septic tank sealed for over three months claimed three lives in a rescue-chain sequence on May 29.
Misclassification of Deaths
DASAM raised alarm over the administrative practice of recording sanitation deaths as ordinary construction or workplace accidents. It cited multiple cases — including Bhilai, Prayagraj, Gopalganj, Sriperumbudur, and Muzaffarpur — where workers described as construction labourers died after manually entering septic tanks to remove shuttering or debris.
"A worker cannot cease to be part of the sanitation workforce simply because a contractor has classified that person as a 'construction labourer.' A septic-tank death cannot be removed from sanitation-related statistics merely because the septic tank was still under construction," the statement said, calling for a national protocol on classifying sanitation-related deaths.
Caste and Contracting
The organisation framed the deaths as structural violence rooted in caste. "Manual scavenging and hazardous sanitation labour are historically rooted in India's caste system," it said, noting that Dalit communities — including Valmiki and other historically oppressed caste groups — are disproportionately forced into sanitation work, while migrant workers are increasingly recruited through informal contractor networks.
It highlighted outsourcing arrangements in Lucknow, Noida, Mundka, Patiala and Raipur, stating: "The result is that families are left fighting multiple institutions merely to establish who was responsible for sending the worker into the hazardous space." DASAM also criticised the "limited and inconsistent institutional response" of the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis.
Demands
DASAM reiterated its demand for a minimum compensation of Rs. 30 lakh per death, in line with Supreme Court directions, along with 17 other measures, including mandatory registration of criminal cases under the Manual Scavenging Act and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act where applicable, independent judicial inquiries into every death, complete mechanisation of sewer and septic-tank cleaning, mandatory atmospheric testing before confined-space entry, a transparent national database of sanitation deaths, and blacklisting of repeat-violator contractors.
"The deaths documented in 2026 cannot be understood solely as occupational-safety incidents," DASAM concluded, calling on the Centre and States to jointly develop "a comprehensive national strategy to end hazardous manual entry into sanitation structures."
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