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New Delhi: The families of the three Dalit workers, who died on Friday (June 26) afternoon after inhaling toxic gases while manually cleaning a septic tank located inside Marwah Printers factory in Mundka Industrial Area, have demanded stringent action against the owner and contractor.
The deceased, Arun (38), Sandeep (32) and Chand (40), were residents of Valmiki Basti in Indira Jheel, Sultanpuri. Their families allege that the factory handled toxic material but did not inform the workers of the risks, nor provided them with safety equipment or helped to rescue them.
The deaths, which followed another incident just a week earlier in Mundka, sparked immediate protests. The Safai Kamgar Union (SKU) led sanitation workers from Ambedkar University Delhi, Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women, Delhi University and elsewhere in demanding “strict action” against the factory owner, responsible employees and contractor, including “registration of cases of homicide against them”.
The police have arrested Suraj Marwah, the factory owner, Jayant, an employee, and Neeraj, the labour contractor and owner of the vehicle used for the cleaning work.
The families of Arun, Sandeep and Chand allege that all three were forced to enter a septic tank and demand action against Marwah and Neeraj for negligence that lead to the deaths. As per their account, Neeraj took all three to the cleaning job, gave them no safety gear and made them enter the tank to clean it.
Police have sealed the factory pending an investigation. Manual scavenging is banned in India, but the practice continues. Ninety people have died across the country just this year – 12 of them in the national capital – while engaged in manual scavenging, according to data supplied by the Safai Karamchari Andolan.
Marwah Printers, Mundka Industrial Area, sealed by police after three workers died on Friday, June 26, 2026, while cleaning a tank manually inside the premises. Photo: Atul Ashok Howale
Suraj, Chand’s brother, told The Wire, “Chand didn’t clean sewers or septic tanks for a living. He would sometimes take up daily wage work just to earn a small income. On Friday afternoon, someone called him for work, and that is why he went [to the Mundka factory].”
“The factory owner’s biggest mistake was that there were no safety measures in place. Anyone going inside a septic tank should be provided with oxygen, safety gear and other essential equipment. The factory dealt with chemicals, and the owner knew that very well. If there were no safety arrangements, he should never have asked anyone to do the job. These days, septic tanks can be cleaned using machines, but instead they chose the cheaper option and put the lives of poor workers at risk,” Suraj said.
Chand leaves behind his wife, two young children and his mother. His father had died earlier. He lived with his family in Sultanpuri, and his daily wages were the family’s only source of income.
Sandeep lived in Sultanpuri, a short distance from Chand’s house. He had been a sanitation worker for the past 15 years, since his teenage years. According to his family, he left for work on Friday afternoon after a contractor called him. They allege that he and the other two workers entered the septic tank after being promised higher wages, but the factory owner and contractor failed to ensure their safety. They were not given protective equipment before they were sent inside the tank.
Deceased Arun’s neighbourhood in Sultanpuri, Delhi. Photo: Atul Ashok Howale
Poonam, Sandeep’s aunt, said, “On the day of the incident [Friday], most of the sewage in the factory had already been pumped out using a machine. But the factory owner wanted the tank completely cleaned and [that is why he] asked the workers to get inside. They were never told that there were toxic chemicals inside the tank. The company and the contractor didn’t give them any safety gear, and after the incident, the factory staff ran away from the spot – not a single person came to their aid,” she said.
According to Bezwada Wilson, national convener of the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), the government is not treating deaths of sanitation workers with the seriousness it deserves. He called for immediate action to prevent more workers from losing their lives. “In the last six months alone, 12 sanitation workers have died in Delhi and 90 across India. Yet there has been no meaningful response from the Delhi government,” Wilson said.
Also read: 622 Sanitation Workers Have Died Since 2017, Govt Tells Lok Sabha; 52 Families Never Got Compensated
Wilson also criticised the Union government for the current situation, saying that there had been no response from the prime minister despite the deaths. “We don’t want anyone to wash our feet – we want to live. The government must protect the lives and dignity of sanitation workers. This incident is the failure of the Delhi government as well as the Union government,” he said.
The SKU also held the Delhi and Union governments responsible for the deaths. The Union said in a statement that governments have failed to prevent the deaths of sanitation workers in sewers and septic tanks despite numerous rules and laws.
“This is not an isolated incident as, every year, many sanitation workers die while cleaning sewers and septic tanks. This practice which is outlawed still exists even 75 years after India’s Independence,” the statement said. It said entrenched caste bias and social profiling – since most sanitation workers are Dalit as well as extremely poor – were behind the prevalence of manual scavenging, despite the ban.
“Contributing to this neglect is the policy of recruiting sanitation staff on a contractual basis across institutions,” said the SKU statement, adding, “Since most of the sanitation work is privatised, employer companies and contractors force the workers to risk their lives daily.”
Delhi Police have registered an FIR (No. 376/26) under Sections 106 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Section 9 of the Prohibition of Manual Scavenging Act, 2013, and Section 3(1)(j) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1988.
The post mortem examination of all three workers was carried out on Saturday. The reports are yet to be released.
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