Three years after Hyderabad got machines to end manual scavenging, sickness and degradation endure While machines reduced the death rate among sanitation workers, fewer than 3% of them became entrepreneurs. 2 hours ago Two workers of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board cleaning a manhole during the lockdown in 2020. | Almaas Masood/ Article-14 As he stood hunched over an open manhole, Venkatesh* manoeuvered a high-power water hose connected to a little truck that was too small to enter the dank, narrow lane, as many work areas for sewer workers tend to be in Hyderabad. A nervous man in his 30s, Venkatesh directed the jet of water downwards to clear a choked sewer. Four years ago, he would have to descend its dark, grimy depths and clear the block with a stick and hand, risking injury and possible death.