Earlier on Thursday, the Bombay high Court directed the BMC to file an affidavit informing it about the steps taken to prevent deaths of their conservancy workers.

Addressing a press conference, Municipal Commissioner Jairaj Phatak said, “We are aware of the risks involved and we are taking adequate measures. It's not proper to highlight the number of people of people dead.” He added, in other profession where the working conditions are healthy, workers face risks. “One of the officer died in civic administration a few days back. Such things happen in every profession, not just with the conservancy staff,” he said.

Social activist Keval Semlani, whose letter to the court was converted into a PIL, had told the court that in 2007, there were 12 deaths per month and in 2004 and 2005 there were 24 deaths a month. The PIL further revealed 288 conservancy workers died in 2004-05, 246 in 2005-06 and 247 in 2006-2007 till the end of March last year. Between April and September 2007, 122 workers died, making it two deaths every three days.

Additional Municipal Commissioner RA Rajeev, who is in charge of sanitation and cleanliness department, said that numerous measures are being undertaken for the workers including purchasing new quality gloves and masks. “We are continuously upgrading safety measures and the results will be seen in the long run,” he said. He added that BMC has almost mechanised its cleanliness operations and blamed the unions for creating obstacle in mechanisation process.