IF a sewer line gets clogged in Japan, Sweden or France, and you really do need to send a man inside to unclog it, a sewer diver is called to do the job. The sewer diver has the status of being a highly skilled and trained professional. He dives in, clad in protective personal equipment with emergency measures on stand-by, and clears the blocked sewer.
But in India it is Dalits, the poorest and most marginalized community, who are sent into manholes with no protective equipment, to unclog filthy, stinky sewers or clean up septic tanks. Invariably, they die. . .
