In 2024, 116 sanitation workers lost their lives while engaged in hazardous sewer and septic tank cleaning. In 2025, nearly 42 workers died during the first six months of the year alone. Together, these figures indicate that around 158 sanitation workers died between 2024 and mid-2025. Recent government data presented in Parliament acknowledges 332 deaths of sanitation workers from January 2021 to June 2026, as reported in Lok Sabha proceedings. In most cases where sanitation workers die inside sewers or septic tanks, the deaths are not recorded under the Manual Scavenging Act.