Discussed death of manual scavengers with Kejriwal: Hardeep Puri

New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said he has taken up the issue of sanitation workers dying while manually cleaning clogged sewers in the national capital with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Ten sanitation workers died in July and August this year in Delhi while manually cleaning the sewers, one of which was located in a hospital, though manual scavenging had been banned in Delhi in 1994.

Speaking here on the occasion of 'Swacchata Hi Sewa' campaign organised by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) at India Gate, Puri stressed the need for mechanized cleaning of sewers.

He said his concern over unsafe and manual cleaning of sewers was shared by Kejriwal who met him last Tuesday and that an amount of Rs 300 crore was sanctioned by his ministry for the three municipal corporations of Delhi for procuring mechanized sewer cleaners.

"The national capital of Delhi is among the major global cities of the world and it needs to be clean to be worthy of that status," said Puri, appealing to citizens and others like hotels not to dump garbage in to sewers so as to prevent their clogging.

"We should give up the attitude of we litter and others would clean," he said, and called for ensuring segregation of waste at source on a war footing in the national capital.

He further said that over 80 lakh citizens have participated in the 'Swacchata Hi Sewa' campaign in the urban areas of the country. The campaign is being held throughout the nation to mark the third year of Swacch Bharat Abhiyan.