New Delhi, Apr 9 (IANS): The Delhi High Court will hear on April 26 the plea seeking strict compliance of provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.

A Division Bench, headed by Chief Justice Rajendra Menon, on Tuesday was hearing a petition by advocate Amit Sahni seeking appropriate directions to civic bodies to ensure strict compliance of the provisions of the Act to prevent loss of lives in the manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.

There are instances when civic bodies engaged people for cleaning sewers and septic tanks in the national capital, either directly or indirectly by outsourcing the work to private contractors, according to Sahni.

It's done to take advantage of the loopholes in the Act, which did not impose a blanket ban on the hazardous activity, but only says safety gear should be provided to manual scavengers, he added.

Sahni has cited a video, posted by an MLA from Sultanpur Majra constituency in Delhi on April 3, which shows people cleaning sewers without the safety gear near Netaji Subhash Place area.

The advocate also pointed out that no medical officer was present at the site.