Manual scavenging continues in Mangalore despite DC's order

November 26, 2011

Mangalore, November 26: Manual cleaning of drainage has been continuing in Dakshina Kannada district including in the city of Mangalore, in spite of Deputy Commissioner's recent warning.

"I have been working under a contractor for seven years. On several occasions, I've got injured by syringes and needles. I work from 9am to 5.30pm every day. We don't have benefits like provident fund and our salary is enough only for bus fare and food.'' Said Gajendra, a 27-year old Dalit worker, after carrying out his routine cleaning work at Pandeshwar on Friday.

He lamented there is no medical facility for workers who clean sewage lines. "Since we have no other job, we are forced to clean this," he added.

Over 30 daily wage workers work in the underground drainage section of the Mangalore City Corporation which has a cesspool, but it was not used to suck dirty water from the manhole at Bunder.

Although it was ordered by DC to make use of sucking and jetting machines of the city corporation for such cleaning activities and completely stop manual labour immediately, the machines have been dumped, said Dalit Sangharsh Samiti leader S P Anand.

While contacted DC Channappa Gowda said, the MCC commissioner has been directed to inquire into the issue.

It can be recalled that Kitta Koraga (55), a Dalit worker died on November 6, after he fell into the septic tank of Abhinandana Hotel in Kinnigoli, near Mulky, while doing manual scavenging. Following this, the DC issued a circular banning manual scavenging.

MCC commissioner Harish Kumar had also warned stringent action against those violating the Karnataka Manual Scavenging (Prohibition) Act.



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Deputy Commissioner G Jagadeesha said in a statement here, "After continuous suicides out of depression over not being able to buy alcohol, the district administration decided to hold counselling sessions to such people.

"The district administration has appointed a team of Doctors for counselling. Anyone who needs counselling can call 1077 toll-free number," he added.

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News Network
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Bengaluru, Mar 23: The Karnataka Government will impose stricter restrictions till March 31 to tackle the spread of COVID-19, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Monday.

''While all non-essential government establishments will also be closed from today, we are discussing on whether there should be a total shutdown similar to what was in place on Sunday during 'Janata Curfew'. We will take a call on this after discussing this with Opposition leaders by evening,'' he added.

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April 11,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 10: Renowned ophthalmologist and Narayana Nethralaya Chairman Dr K Bhujang Shetty today advised those wearing contact lenses to switch to eyeglasses as a preventive measure.

“Though the facial mask is mandatory as a preventive measure against the dreaded Coronavirus, not many know that the virus can also enter the body through eyes. Wearing glasses or spectacles reduces the spread of the virus,” Dr Bhujang Shetty said.

Although it is more likely that people may catch Coronavirus infections through mouth and nose, there are chances of the virus also entering through eyes. “In a day, humans tend to touch their face and eyes almost 20 times an hour knowingly or unknowingly. Users of contact lenses end up touching their eyes and face frequently, increasing the risk of infections. Therefore, it is advisable that they switch to eyeglasses until the situation improves”, according to a release here on Friday.

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