Unauthorised and hazardous cleaning of septic tanks has been a practice. Representational Image | Photo Credit: Times Now New Delhi: Unauthorised and hazardous cleaning of septic tanks has been a practice that has failed to stop completely despite several laws, promises and tall claims of advancements and development in this regard. And this rampant practice of humans being used for cleaning sewers has been claiming hundreds of lives every year, lives that are just numbers after their deaths. At a time when deaths of manual scavengers are reduced to mere numbers and data in government’s records, there’s a need to look into this issue with compassion and more diligence.