Sanitization Drives For JMC’s foot soldiers, it’s all risk & no glory

JAMMU: It is better to give protective gear kits to all the foot soldiers than compensating me, Sukhwant Singh alias Happy, told the Jammu Municipal Corporation authorities visiting his home after he sustained burn injuries while working at the forefront of dealing with emergent health emergency caused by coronavirus.
Happy has been working with JMC for nearly five years as casual safai karamchari, but it was for the first time, he along with several others were asked to help sanitizing and fumigating municipal wards of Jammu City and prevent the spread of deadly virus.
“We were given a spray machine full of certain chemicals, which we did not know are dangerous. We went to our assigned wards wearing that machine and started manual spraying as directed,” he says.
Nearly eighteen teams, today increased to twenty four, are deployed for the task of sanitizing seventy-five wards, besides the COVID hospitals, declared red zones, other hospitals and health centers, quarantine and isolation centers. The team strength is decided on the basis of requirement of each ward or area. On an average, each team has three workers. Happy was assigned Ward Number 23-B in Nai Basti area of Jammu.
However, he adds, “Few hours later, my back started hurting. I asked my co-workers to check, but they lied. They asked me to continue working and finish the sanitization of remaining 7-8 lanes. Bohot Jal Raha Tha Lekin Sham Tak Kaam Karta Raha.”
It was in the evening when he reached home, and his family saw his burnt back. The incident, he remembers, happened on March 27.
“Next day I went to the office and asked for a leave because I could not carry the spray machine on my burnt back, atleast for a few days. But they threatened to suspend me from the job. A quarrel started over this,” he mentions.
Though it is the job of a safai karamchari, but it is only what he has got. Notably, Happy belongs to the historically wronged community of Valmikis who have been denied constitutional, legal and even human rights in Jammu and Kashmir for six decades, owing to Article 370 and Article 35A, both now rendered inoperative.
Fearing for his job and life, Happy returned them the spray machine. “Then, to my shock, they pronounced that the machine was leaking or overflowing. They should have taken care of the quantities of chemicals while mixing.”
Pertinently, JMC is using three chemicals for sanitation and fumigation, namely Quaternary ammonium, bleaching powder, and Sodium hypochlorite. The dilution of the chemicals is done in set standards and under the supervision of health officers.
For a week, he didn’t come out of his house and no one from the immediate authorities cared to check upon him. Later I got to know that more workers have received burn injuries.
“On learning about my condition day before yesterday, Avny Lavasa, Commissioner, JMC, visited me. I refused the cheque she offered me as compensation because it is against the principles of our Valmiki community,” he says.
Further, he adds, “I asked her to spend the money on procuring better protective gears and equipments for other workers employed for sanitization. It would save their lives. She assured me that she’s here for our help.”
“Amidst the risk of contracting coronavirus, we are working to sanitize hospitals, wards, quarantine centers. We are also lifting garbage and ensuring cleanliness in the city while most of the people remain cooped in their houses. Despite the limitations at JMC, we are working. Because we know that it is imperative to fight the virus and protect people from the threat, but for that our safety is also of paramount importance. We need the welfare of our safai karamcharis. We need the welfare of our Valmiki community. And we need the job,” he remarks.
Yesterday, a doctor alongwith his team came to check-up Happy. His burn marks appear to have started to heal.
“We are taking the issue of workers receiving burn injuries seriously, and they should be immediately redressed. It should not have happened in the first place. We’ll ensure nothing of this sort happens again,” said Avny Lavasa, Commissioner, JMC, adding that this was for the first time JMC is doing such kind of work (sanitization and fumigation), still the efforts being put up by everyone are commendable.
“We are providing masks and gloves to each worker. Those visiting areas quarantine centers, red zones, and hospitals, are essentially being provided with PPE kits including the body suits. We are faced with shortage of such kits, but we ensure that they cover any exposed body part.
“We did not have much time to train everyone for chemical spraying, but it can be said that it is a semi skilled job. Even the corporators, NGOs, volunteers are doing it on their own with small machines,” she said.
JMC has launched the insurance policy for sanitation workers under Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), commencing from 1 April 2020, which covers all categories of workers - permanent, casual and from NGOs. Although this initiative has come at the time of COVID19, but it is what any good organization should do for their workers, especially when their occupational hazards are more.
“Additionally, we are trying to introduce few incentives for them, such as additional payment. We are in the process of procuring boom sprays, which would reduce manual spraying to some extent. One boom spray should be functional on the roads of Jammu from tomorrow,” she said.

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“The incident has been taking very seriously, and nothing of this sort will happen again. One boom spray should be functional from Tuesday, reducing manual spraying to some extent.”

Avny Lavasa, Commissioner, JMC