Cleaning a sewer without safety gear should never be a death sentence. Yet across Pakistan, men descend into deep, dark manholes daily without breathing masks, gloves, or protective suits. They submerge themselves in toxic waste to keep urban centers running, often for less than minimum wage.
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International recently sounded the alarm over this grim reality. The warning comes after a surge of tragic, highly preventable deaths that highlight the extreme dangers faced by sanitation staff every day.
A String of Fatal Incidents Exposes Systemic Failure
The statistics tell a horrifying story. At least 16 sanitation workers have died since April 2026 alone, killed by toxic fumes and suffocation while manually cleaning sewers.
On July 4, 2026, two workers lost their lives and a third was critically injured in Chishtian, Punjab. They inhaled lethal gases inside a manhole without any protective gear. Weeks earlier, a worker sweeping roads was crushed to death. In another tragic case in Gujranwala, a worker set himself on fire after months of unpaid wages and illegal salary deductions, later succumbing to his injuries.
These aren't isolated accidents. They are direct consequences of neglect. Municipal authorities consistently fail to enforce basic workplace safety rules, forcing workers to choose between risking their lives or losing their jobs.
Systemic Discrimination and The Non-Muslim Trap
The problem runs deeper than missing safety gear. Amnesty International, working with the Centre for Law and Justice, documented how deep-seated religious and caste-based discrimination fuels this workplace crisis.
In Pakistan, an overwhelming majority of manual sanitation workers belong to religious minority groups, primarily Christians and Hindus. Government agencies and municipal bodies have historically published job advertisements explicitly requesting non-Muslim applicants for sanitation roles. This practice effectively traps religious minorities in low-paying, high-hazard jobs.
Workers face severe social stigma alongside physical dangers. Many report being called derogatory names like chuhra or bhangi, prohibited from sharing eating utensils with coworkers, and socially isolated in segregated colonies.
The Precarious Employment Loop Hole
Municipal authorities regularly bypass labor laws through employment tricks. Instead of hiring permanent staff with legal protections, agencies rely heavily on daily-wage labor and temporary contracts.
- 89-day contracts: Employers force workers to sign short-term contracts repeatedly to avoid legal requirements for permanent employment.
- Missing contracts: Nearly half of the surveyed workers lack written contracts entirely, leaving them without proof of employment.
- Pay disparities: Over half of sanitation workers earn below the official minimum wage, while overtime pay is virtually non-existent.
- Lack of healthcare: When injuries or illness occur from hazardous chemical exposures, workers must pay medical bills out of pocket.
When a permanent worker dies on the job, their family might receive standard government compensation. When a daily-wage worker dies doing the exact same task, their family often gets a fraction of that amount, or nothing at all.
Mechanical Alternatives and Legal Enforcement Needed Now
Fixing this crisis requires immediate, concrete actions rather than empty promises. Manual sewer cleaning must be banned entirely and replaced with modern vacuum trucks and mechanical jetting machines.
Pakistan must also enforce Occupational Safety and Health standards across all municipalities, holding contractors and public officials criminally liable when safety protocols are ignored. Job ads targeting religious minorities must be permanently banned, and informal workers need immediate contract regularization.
Until municipal authorities replace manual sewer diving with modern equipment and enforce strict worker protections, more lives will continue to be lost in the dark.
