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JALODBUST™: Revolutionizing Sludge Handling for Safe and Dignified Sanitation Work

JALODBUST™: Revolutionizing Sludge Handling for Safe and Dignified Sanitation Work

Today 95 million Swachh Bharat Mission Toilets across the country (mostly single leach pits and septic tanks) are awaiting means to be emptied safely. As per the census reports, about 38% of urban households have septic tanks. This amounts to close to 30 million 28.5 million urban septic tanks/leach pits which need emptying every few years.[1] Manual Scavenging, a The degrading and dangerous process of emptying septic tanks and pits manually, referred to as hazardous cleaning in the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers Act (PEMSRA 2013) that leads to various fatal diseases is still practiced practised in urban areas and remote locations. locations that are remote or have narrow access. The vacuum trucks cannot reach these narrow lanes or remote locations for emptyingto empty the septic tanks and sewer maintenance holes. manholes. Since the existing equipment used for emptying septic tanks and sewer maintenance manholes are large and expensive, the sanitation worker has no alternative but to handle the sanitary sludge with buckets, shovels, or baskets.

Jalodbust™ is a portable, battery-operated, safe, and easy to operateeasy-to-operate sludge handling system undergoing design iteration tests, trial runs and pilots. . It works on rechargeable batteries, making it environmentally friendly and inexpensive to operate. It is versatile, agitates and pumps the sludge. It also has a provision for medium water pressure jetting for declogging. Due to its small size, Jalodbust™ can even access narrow lanes and remote locations to remove liquid waste and sludge without any physical intervention of the sanitation workers, hence eliminating hazardous cleaning completely. It agitates the settled sludge, liquefies it, and then brings it to the transportation system without any kind of human intervention, thus saving the worker from contact with sanitary sludge, risk of disease, and the drudgery of hard labor. This designed transportation system also contributes to the ease and earnings of the sanitation workercontributes to the ease and earnings of the sanitation worker as well.[2] JALODBUSTTM has two devices- Pride and SaniPreneur that replaces the shovel and bucket with technology that is used to extract the faecal sludge. The extracted sludge consists of upto 10% solids that upon treatment can be converted to nutrient-rich manure and soil conditioner which can be sold at 5-10 INR per kg. Therefore, a sanitation worker may be able to generate about 500-1000 INR from every trip conducted.

Implementation & Impact

JALODBUST™ has not been implemented yet, however many design iteration tests, trial runs and a few pilots have been completed. The innovation JALODBUST™ is patent applied, bearing Application No. 201841041735. An IoT based application for Jalodbust™ is being developed which will collect data on the total quantity of sludge removed each day. This will show the removal of sanitary sludge in terms of volume and days worked to complete the activity to the concerned stakeholders.

The innovation is a low-cost pro-poor innovation. as its cost is low. Jalodbust™ is going towill create a new line of dignified blue-collar livelihood in the field of sanitation. The product is designed as a complete solution for all sanitation workers and individuals who would like work to keep their drainage system unclogged and clear. It benefits sanitation workers by removing the risk of physical exposure to sewage and sludge. It is useful across all geographies including areas that do not have a fully functional sewer sanitation system.
They have Jalodbust™won the ASME I-Show India, Bio-Smart and ISC-FICCI in 2020.

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CEO/MD/Founder: Mr. Rakesh Kasba
Organization: Cherries Engineering and Innovation India Pvt. Ltd. Year of establishment: 2019
Contact: +91-9480094320 | rakesh@jalodbust.com; rakeshkasba@gmail.com

A critical reflection of India’s Trajectory in protecting the sanitation workers’ safety, well-being and dignity

A critical reflection of India’s Trajectory in protecting the sanitation workers’ safety, well-being and dignity

This was developed by Ms. Falguni Lalwani during her period of internship at the Administrative Staff College of India

A critical reflection of India’s tTrajectory in protecting the sanitation workers’ safety, well-being and dignity

-Ms. Falguni Lalwani, BA in Economics, Media Studies and Political Science (Third Year Student), Christ University, Bengaluru

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The workers are given PPE gear twice a month, including a helmet, mask, jacket, gumboots, gloves, and face shield. This has empowered sewer entry professionals and reduced the uncertainties associated with their job. The workers are also paid an additional 6000INR as risk allowance apart from their salary of 12000 INR. The corporation also provides for their health insurance, conducts periodic health check-up programs under the e-Health services and covers their children’s education. The city also provides workers with groceries and other amenities every three months. The corporation has extended its benefits to informal and contractual workers as well.

Legislations

Most of the earlier interventions by the Government of India were schemes to prevent the construction of dry latrines and bring in legislation. For example, the low-cost sanitation for the liberation of scavengers (1980-81) was followed by the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act 1993. However, the law was not translated into action as effectively as it should. This was the first legislation which made manual scavenging a cognisable criminal offence. The National Commission for Safai Karmcharis came into being through this legislation and submitted a report on the implementation gaps of the legislation.

In 2013 the government passed the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act. This Act differentiates between manual scavenging and hazardous cleaning and prohibits both. It also emphasises the mechanization of sanitation services, and the law was made stringent by imposing strict penalties, making the offence non-bailable and insisting on the provisions provision of providing safety equipment and gear for workers engaged in hazardous cleaning. However, the legislation was limited to the extent of hazardous cleaning being restricted to the use of PPE gear, limited availability of the financial resources with the ULBs and technological uptake by the ULBs. A 2018 National Safai Karamcharis Finance & Development Corporation report revealed that only about 53% of identified manual scavengers have been rehabilitated.

In 2020, the Prime Minister announced the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (Amendment) Bill. The bill proposed the complete mechanisation of sanitation services. However, it didn’t receive cabinet approval.

All these legislations are followed by some schemes, directives, advisories, ranking mechanisms etc., by the line Ministries; the Ministry of Social Justice and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Implementation strategies by GoI

In recent years, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has taken several initiatives to eradicate manual scavenging by providing advisories on workers’ safety and encouraging a healthy competition between the cities. The advisories regarding the formation of the Responsible Sanitation Authority, Emergency Sanitation Response Unit (ESRU) and some interventions. The advisories insist on the capacity and skill building of the Safai Mitras. Similarly, the Safai mitra Suraksha Challenge, and Safai Mitra Surakshit Shehr challenge are such healthy competitions in which the cities participate in ranking mechanisms for the best-performing city in Safai Mitra Suraksha..

In 2022, the Ministry of Social Justice launched the NAMASTE (National Action for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem) scheme. In the Union Budget of 2023-24, nearly 100 crores are allocated for enabling a hundred per cent mechanised desludging of septic tanks and sewer lines.

However, despite these efforts, the number of reported casualties in the sanitation service delivery is high. Challenges like inadequate identification of workers in the informal sector, lack of skilled and trained resources, lack of awareness, private sector non-compliance and lacklustre implementation of laws and directives prevent these initiatives from realizing their full potential. Hence, while the legal framework and government initiatives provide hope, their effectiveness needs thorough evaluation and improvement.

Overall, the government’s efforts to eradicate manual scavenging are a step in the right direction. However, focused and sustained efforts are needed for effective implementation and improvisation of the legislation and programmes.

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Ensuring Safety and Dignity: Tirupati’s Model for Sanitation Worker Welfare

Ensuring Safety and Dignity: Tirupati’s Model for Sanitation Worker Welfare

City Profile

Tirupati, a pilgrim city home to the Tirumala Venkateshwara Temple, is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district, Andhra Pradesh, with a population of about 2,87,482 (2011). The temple city of Tirupati has taken up some targeted initiatives towards sanitation worker safety and dignity. Tirupati bagged the first rank in the “Safaimitra Surakshit Shehar” programme in October 2022.

Challenge

The city had about 60% sewerage network with 8500 maintenance holes in 2020. It also had an operational STP-FSTP cotreatment facility. Before 2020 the city had a fairly strong sewer cleaning and desludging fleet. Manual entry of sanitation workers was common, leading to many accidents in sanitation service delivery that cost human lives.

Initiative

Under the Safaimitra Suraksha Shehar programme, the city leadership strongly focused on the mechanization of sanitation services and preventing fatalities of sanitation workers caused by the manual cleaning of sanitation systems.

Tirupati enabled the purchase of sewer cleaning machinery and regular training activities. With the support of the National Safai Karamchari Finance Development Corporation (NSKFDC) & Ministry of Social Justice, the TMC provided ‘Recognition of Prior Learning’ (RPL) training to the sewer-entry professionals. The city also provided professional training to 96 members of Safai Karamachari families to equip them with professional training on UGD network maintenance.

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The workers are given PPE gear twice a month, including a helmet, mask, jacket, gumboots, gloves, and face shield. This has empowered sewer entry professionals and reduced the uncertainties associated with their job. The workers are also paid an additional 6000INR as risk allowance apart from their salary of 12000 INR. The corporation also provides for their health insurance, conducts periodic health check-up programs under the e-Health services and covers their children’s education. The city also provides workers with groceries and other amenities every three months. The corporation has extended its benefits to informal and contractual workers as well.

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Tirupati constituted the Emergency Sanitation Response Unit (ESRU) with 20 trained sewer entry professionals, inspection commandos, and the Responsible Sanitation Authority under the Municipal Commissioner (Magistrate). Tirupati initiated the integration of informal workers into the formal sanitation system by enabling training and skilling. Further, licenses were also issued to the desludging operators, thereby empaneling them. The city also unlocked funds for procuring and strengthening its sewer cleaning fleet through the Tirupati Smart City Corporation funds. Tirupati procured 5 Jetting and Suction machines, 9 Desludging vehicles, 12 Power Rodding and 12 Desilting machines. An ICT-based vehicle tracking mechanism was also introduced to ensure its efficient management.

Tirupati constituted the Emergency Sanitation Response Unit (ESRU) with 20 trained sewer entry professionals, inspection commandos, and the Responsible Sanitation Authority under the Municipal Commissioner (Magistrate). Tirupati initiated the integration of informal workers into the formal sanitation system by enabling training and skilling. Further, licenses were also issued to the desludging operators, thereby empaneling them. The city also unlocked funds for procuring and strengthening its sewer cleaning fleet through the Tirupati Smart City Corporation funds. Tirupati procured 5 Jetting and Suction machines, 9 Desludging vehicles, 12 Power Rodding and 12 Desilting machines. An ICT-based vehicle tracking mechanism was also introduced to ensure its efficient management.

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Impact
Tirupati has transformed all the maintenance holes to promote machine entry and prevent manual entry through the initiatives taken up under the Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge. Through consistent efforts, the city established an extensive sewerage network and connection panning over 90% of the city and increased the number of machine-holes to 13720.
Through its multi-pronged approach, which includes strengthening institutions and infrastructure, providing capacity building, socio-economic benefits for the workers, and the introduction of mechanization, Tirupati was able to provide safety and dignity of labour to the sanitation workers. This has led to a reduction in deaths and fatalities of sanitation workers and led to increased accountability among the ULB officials as well as the citizens.

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Note: The source of information is Tirupati Municipal Corporation’s presentation for the webinar on Safaimitra Suraksha conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).