The Historical 'Soak Pit'
A year before we moved into a house which is an old British building. The house has a typical ‘A’ roof architectural style with chimneys and a fireplace which is much needed in a hill station. The house also has wooden and glass wall separations and even a small well at the entrance. Unlike modern houses, the maintenance cost of such old houses is a little bit higher but such houses are very rare and heaven to someone who is a vintage enthusiast.
What I didn’t know about the house before moving in here is its old sewage system. This sewage disposal system was in use even before the municipal sewage lines were constructed. Most of the houses in the past had similar sewage systems. Such sewage systems which were in use before a proper town planning also had social problems arising out of it.
The sewage waste flows into the soak pit from a series of pipelines. The pit in our house is constructed with bricks that can drain the wastewater through its porous wall which then gets absorbed by the soil around the pit leaving the faecal waste at the bottom. This process continues and at the bottom, the faecal waste starts to pile up day by day. The soak pit in our house is around eight feet in depth, so this faecal waste that is collected at the bottom gets naturally decomposed. There is no problem until this process of draining and decomposition is fully functional. But when the soak pit loses its ability to drain the sewage water it hinders the decomposition process and the sewage system stops working and the sewage water is reversed to the bathroom. This was the exact problem with the sewage system here, it stopped working and we had to face the problem of reversal of sewage water into our bathrooms. Luckily we identified this issue a bit earlier and found out that this pit has lost its ability to decompose and decided to close this chamber of soak pit permanently and connect the sewage pipelines to the main municipal pipe drains which now all the modern houses have.
Connecting this age-old sewage pipeline to the main municipal drainage requires plumbing work. My father called a plumber who happened to visit our house on the same day and conversed about the sewage issue. The plumber was a bit hesitant to work on it. He said that it is an old soak pit and to close this permanently and connect the house with a modern sewage pipeline requires the pit to be emptied at first. So we asked him the way to empty it. He said that this kind of drainage work is not done by him and some separate persons would drain clean such soak pits. He dialled a number on his phone which had a contact named ‘Drainage Shiva’. The plumber talked with Shiva and made sure he comes here the next morning and starts working on emptying the pit. The plumber said that unless Shiva empties the pit nothing can be done and left telling us to call him after the work is over.
The next morning Shiva a person in his mid-thirties came along with an old man to empty the soak pit. I thought they would know an easier way to empty the pit and I waited to see their work. They asked me to arrange two waste buckets and a long rope. I asked them how would they empty the soak pit and they replied saying that they would use the bucket tied with the rope and dip the bucket into the sewage water by hand and dispose of them in the main municipal pipeline. When I heard it I felt this was not right and immediately said them not to start the work. I discussed this issue with my father and said that this is something inappropriate to do and they are saying that they would dip in the bucket to pull out the sewage waste manually with their hands in it. My father said to find an alternate to empty the soak pit if that’s the issue.
I said to Shiva that there is no need of emptying the soak pit and said that I have planned to look into some other alternate things since this is something inappropriate to do. I enquired about other ways to empty the pit and soon found a way. I rented a 2 HP motor and with help of Shiva, I carried it to my house in a two-wheeler. I connected the motor to an electrical line and pumped the sewage water from the soak pit and discharged it into the main municipal drainage. So when I used a motor pump to clean the soak pit Shiva didn’t find it right and said that I have incurred a loss to him by not giving him the work to do. He thought that I used motor because it was cost effective and easy to do and offered them no work. But that was not the case. He even said that it would have taken the same amount of time if he would have emptied the tank and he would have also charged a less amount of money than what I paid for the rented motor.
I felt pity for his condition. Though we all know that it is inhuman to practice manual scavenging and it is a punishable offence according to the law, persons like Shiva are still working as manual scavengers in many parts of India. What I realised from talking to him is that we have alternatives like a motor pump to do such works but wo(men) working on the sewage drains are ready to do such works because they don’t find an alternative to their livelihood. Even though they know other works, most people only offer them sewage works alone since they are known to do such works often and because of this, they are barred from doing other services.
This soak pit that is built in this lovely vintage building is a symbol of oppression and it has a history even that dates back to The Indus Valley Civilization. Indus valley civilization is known for its spectacular drainage and clean sewage system. Manholes were an important part of their sewage system and all the houses that had a courtyard and a bathroom were connected with the sewage pipeline which drained into manholes or the soak pits and they were periodically cleaned. Periodically cleaned by whom? Obviously by a fellow human like Shiva. Manual scavenging is not new to India and it also is in practice in most places of the country even today. The government through many schemes in the past has engaged in the ban on manual scavenging but this dehumanizing act is far from over.
When I asked Shiva what kind of other work he does, he said that he also knows plumbing and masonry works but only a few call him for doing such works and since many knew him as a manual scavenger they show hesitance in providing him other work. I have found an alternative to restrict men from entering the soak pit and performing this inhuman task in my home by using a motor pump but what about an alternative to their livelihood? When I said them that the work they do is hazardous and illegal, Shiva smiled and said that this is the usual work which they do as they are paid extra. I thought awhile and said Shiva to carry out the plumbing works in here. The plumber who came here earlier could get many such works to do but being a person who is from a socially disadvantaged group, Shiva would not. So I decided that it is best to offer Shiva this work. I saved his contact on my phone as ‘Plumber Shiva’. He permanently closed the soak pit and connected the house with new sewage pipelines that modern houses have. He did the work with perfection. I would surely recommend 'Plumber' Shiva to others.
Sometimes we are left to take decisions. If it doesn’t feel right and if it is not meant that way, even when some persons are ready to do such inhuman acts, it is we who should restrict such actions from happening. We have a choice. We even have alternatives. The only thing we should do is to take the right actions at the right time. Only by changing ourselves alone can we change this world. Be the change…
Any queries regarding the blog post contact
Zakir Hussain. P
Mail: zakiryoungindia@gmail.com
Instagram: onehuman_tribe
Zakir Hussain. P
Mail: zakiryoungindia@gmail.com
Instagram: onehuman_tribe
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