Impact of COVID-19 on Sanitary Workers in India

During COVID-19, the conditions of sanitary workers worsened day by day. They are going through callous conditions. According to the National Commission of Safai Karamcharis, 50 sanitation workers died cleaning sewers in the first six months of 2019, and many more cases remain unreported. However, the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has exacerbated the existing issues and created new problems as well1. India generated around 33,000 tonnes of COVID-19 biomedical waste in the last seven months, with Maharashtra contributing the maximum (3,587 tonnes) to it, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. Over 5,500 tonnes of COVID-19 waste was generated across the country in October 2020, the maximum for a month so far. Because of the increase in biomedical waste, the lives of sanitary workers are under threat. threat. It leads to increased infection of COVID-19 among the workers and even the death of a number of sanitary workers.