Play on plight of sanitary workers staged

Lucknow: A play, ‘Savdhaan Sewar Khula Hai' showcasing the plight of manual scavengers was staged at the International Buddhist Research Institute on Friday. It showed how authorities in a bid to save money continue to exploit sanitary workers by making them manually clean poisonous sweres and man-holes.The play opens with a man falling into a manhole of a sewer line that has been under construction for four years. When people gather to rescue him, he refuses to come out. When the media arrives to interview him, he lays down conditions for his return and demands answers on why the sewer work was not completed on time.A sanitary worker is then called. He reveals that his two sons died after inhaling poisonous gas while cleaning sewers, alleging that authorities continue to send workers into hazardous drains instead of using machines in order to save money. In the final act, the environment minister orders immediate repairs. Once the workers complete the job, the man comes out.Writer-director, KK Agarwal said the play was an attempt to present the harsh reality of our times.