Every week, 5 conservancy workers die in Mumbai

Three years after the Bombay high court directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to bring down the mortality rate of its conservancy workers, the rate is still very high: five a week.

The BMC executed a slew of measures to curb the alarming mortality rate following the court directive in January 2007. Those included upgraded machinery and protective gear, better infrastructure at workplace, lesser direct contact with waste, periodic medical check-ups and workshops for workers.

However, there has been no let-up in the mortality rate in the last three years. Statistics procured from the BMC’s solid waste management (SWM) department reveal that at least five conservancy workers die every week. Records show that 120 conservancy workers have died in the first six months of the current fiscal (2009-10). The death toll in 2008-09 was 247, and in 2007-08 was 246.

Workers, civic officials, and social activists agree that reforms have improved the work environment, but there has been no significant dip in the death rate as yet.

“The reforms will rein in the mortality rate in the long run,’’ believes additional municipal commissioner RA Rajeev. He points out that in 2006-07, a year before the reforms were introduced, 288 deaths were recorded.

Officials also draw a correlation between an increase in staff strength and the death toll to justify the efficacy of these moves.

The causes of the deaths provide an insight into why things have not changed much. Most deaths this year were due to diseases aggravated or brought on by bad habits like excessive drinking, smoking and unsafe sex. Tuberculosis and other upper tract respiratory problems accounted for most cases.

“While the nature of work makes them susceptible to such diseases, in most of the cases, alcoholism contributed to the deteriorating health condition,” a senior department official said. Cardiac problems are another major killer. HIV-induced diseases also figure prominently.

Interpretations on the trigger factors differ. Simpreet Singh, a social activist working in this sphere, attributes these bad habits to mental agony caused by the nature of their work. Rajeev, meanwhile, identifies these as the downside of upbringing in a community which is still catching up with facilities concerning human welfare. “Slum communities living in similar conditions will have comparable mortality rates,” he said.

Singh, however, claims that the mortality rate among conservancy workers could be the highest in slum areas. He recommends a collective effort by the BMC and civil society towards uplifting their economic and social status. Conservancy worker Kanti Sandis (name changed) blames both work and societal pressures for his drinking. Whereas the city’s overall average age at death is 52 years (source: Human development report), conservancy workers die two years younger.