AP High Court moved on sewer cleaning

HYDERABAD: The High Court has directed the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board to file counter-affidavits on a plea seeking a direction to ensure safety of sewerage workers during employment and to ensure prevention of manhole deaths in the city.A division bench comprising chief justice Madan B Lokur and justice PV Sanjay Kumar gave this direction while dealing with a plea by Sushma Jaiswal, a resident of Abids area of the city, and four others.The petitioners contended that employment of sewerage workers by the board was in gross violation of their right guaranteed under Articles 14, 21, 39(e), 42 and 47 of the Constitution and in utter violation of Section 3 of the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition ) Act, 1993.The bench has granted four weeks’ time to the GHMC.