The Division Bench of the Orissa High Court, comprising Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice M S Raman has ordered the State Government to implement the SOP for cleaning of sewers and septic ranks strictly and the complete details of every agency that has been engaged by the Municipal Corporations, Municipalities and NACs to carry out the task of cleaning of sewers and septic tanks and other sanitation work should be placed before the Court in next hearing.
Reasoning and Decision of the Court
The Court was informed by the amicus curiae that the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for cleaning of sewers and septic tanks was issued in November, 2018 by the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Govt. of India. The purpose of SOP was to ‘impart the knowledge into the stakeholders about the cleaning of sewers and emptying of septic tanks before and after the assignment’.
The amicus curiae further pointed that two SOPs are not being followed by the agencies who are engaging, through outsourcing, other persons to undertake the hazardous tasks of sewer and septic tank cleaning and it is this gap which is sought to be filled up by the SOP and the training manual.
Considering the points raised by the Amicus curiae, the Court sought information regarding the number of such outsourcing agencies engaged by the Municipal Corporations, Municipalities and Notified Area Councils in Odisha, for which the learned counsel appearing for the CMC seek time for placing those details before the Court.
On the request of the standing counsel, the Court ordered that before the next date, the Opposite Party-State will place before the Court the complete details of every agency that has been engaged by the Municipal Corporations, Municipalities and NACs to carry out the task of cleaning of sewers and septic tanks and other sanitation work.
The court listed the matter on 3 May 2023 for next hearing.
Case Details
Case:- W.P.(C) No.14589 of 2021
Petitioner:- Re: Deaths of Sanitation Workers
Respondent:- Chief Secretary and Others
Counsel for the Petitioner – Ms. Pami Rath
Counsel for the Respondent - Mr. P.K. Muduli
Judge: Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice M S Raman
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