A solution for a social problem

A team of students is attempting to see how technology can be used to end manual scavenging

Though the practice of manual scavenging was made illegal decades ago, we are still trying to get rid of it. This is why the Prohibition of Employment of Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act was amended last year and mechanised sewer cleaning was made compulsory.

We learnt about the deaths of sanitation workers and how they worked in such dangerous environments through news reports. After several sessions of brainstorming with our mentor, we created “sewage squad”, a lightweight and cost-effective automated sewage cleaner. We began in March 2020, just before the lockdown was imposed. The team comprised the two of us, Bahaar Dhingra, Anavi Kothari, and Ansh Gupta; all students of Class 11.

We deliberated on our problem statement for our school’s annual Capstones project and spoke to many Safai Karamcharis and their supervisors and conducted several iterations in order to understand their needs. The final product was readied in time for Colloquium, our annual event where an external jury considered our presentation.