PANAJI
In a case which is alarming if true, an incident of alleged manual scavenging in Miramar's La Campala colony was reported by an alert citizen who claimed that a labourer was lowered down into a sewerage manhole in the fairly upscale locality.
A photograph dispatched by the citizen, who did not want to the identified, depicts two individuals holding the lid of the manhole and staring intensely inside.
Manual scavenging has been held inhuman in multiple decisions of the Apex court which has directed governments to eliminate the practice.
Meanwhile Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) working president, Valmiki Naik has condemned the incident at a time when the government is claiming to make the capital a 'Smart City',
Naik said, the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) had purchased a “Bandicoot” machine for mechanical sewage cleaning at a cost of more than Rs 40 lakhs but has never been seen in use by anyone.
"It looks like some political bandicoots have run off with it. No one has seen it in action," Naik said.
Naik said the Modi government had recently claimed in Parliament that zero manual scavenging incidents have been recorded in the past five years, which is a perfect case of “ostrich governance”.
AAP government, he said, has completely banned manual scavenging in Delhi and deployed more than 200 machines and slammed the BJP as a party with "regressive mindset" for being unable to transition into the modern 21st century day and age.
