
As a 32-year-old man became the latest to die while working in a sewer in India, activists are taking to the streets in protest.

The young and old men who work as manual scavengers have one of the most dangerous jobs in the country.

They brave stench and filth in the most deplorable conditions imaginable when they descend into the gutters to risk their lives for a meagre pay of around 7,500 to 10,000 rupees (£79 to £105) a month.

Private daily contractors can be paid as little as 500 rupees (£5) for a day's cleaning.

Recent government statistics revealed that a manual scavenger has died every five days since the start of 2017 while cleaning sewers.

Joney, a 26 year-old sewer worker, is seen cleaning a sewer line in Ghaziabad in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, in July

Indian activists take part in a protest against the sewer deaths - with one placard dubbing them 'India's Holocaust' in New Delhi on September 25

Protesters spell out 'Stop killing us' while protesting the deaths of sewer workers at a demonstration in New Delhi, India

Recent statistics revealed that a manual scavenger has died every five days since the start of 2017 while cleaning sewers

A total of 573 people died between 2008 and 2018, data shows. A further 96 people died from January to September this year.

Then, on September 9, five men died while cleaning a sewer pit at DLF Capital Greens in Moti Nagar in Delhi.

Vishal, 20, Pankaj, 26, Sarfaraz, 19, Raja, 22, Umesh, 20, and Pradeep worked as maintenance workers and pump operators in a residential building.

But they were forced by their supervisor to go inside a septic tank to clean it – without any safety equipment or masks. Only Pradeep survived, while the others died after inhaling toxic gases while cleaning the tank.

Joney (pictured) is one of a number of workers who cleans the sewer lines by going inside the pits in Ghaziabad without any safety equipment except for a safety belt to hoist them up

Joney is seen being hoisted up by his safety belt after cleaning a sewer line in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

Workers like Joney risk their lives for a meagre pay of around 7,500 to 10,000 rupees (£79 to £105) a month

Mange Ram (R) and Brijesh (L) throw the choked waste taken out from a sewer by Joney in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

Just a few weeks later, on September 17, a 28-year-old died while cleaning a sewer in West Delhi.

The death prompted activists to march in New Delhi a week later, with placards branding the deaths 'India's Holocaust.'

Despite their demand for better conditions, another man died on Sunday.

Doman Ray drowned while working inside a sewer tank of a Delhi Jal Board (DJB) sewage pumping station in Jahangirpuri in north Delhi, the Hindustan Times reports.

Joney, a 26 year-old sewer worker holds his safety belt as he prepares to go inside the sewer in Ghaziabad in September

Workers enter sewers with only a safety belt with which they can be pulled free if they become asphyxiated by the poisonous gases

Private daily contractors who work to clean sewers in India can be paid as little as 500 rupees (£5) for a day's cleaning

Most of the sewer workers commonly suffer from eye problems, respiratory and skin diseases, according to one supervisor

Joney's supervisor Ratender Chauhan says workers are not provided with any sort of sufficient equipment to help protect them against the filthy environment

Many manual scavengers – like Joney – belong to Valmiki community, a sub-caste that is considered one of the lowest of the so-called 'untouchable' Dalit caste

Members of these communities have long carried out cleaning and sanitation work in Indian society

Although he was equipped with an oxygen mask and a safety belt when he was sent inside the tank to open a valve, he wasn't pulled out in time when drain water started gushing into the 30 ft deep tank, according to the newspaper.

Many manual scavengers – like Joney, Brijesh and Mange – belong to Valmiki community, a sub-caste that is considered one of the lowest of the so-called 'untouchable' Dalit caste.

Members of these communities have long carried out cleaning and sanitation work in Indian society.

Joney, Brijesh and Mange's supervisor Ratender Chauhan says workers are not provided with any sort of sufficient equipment to help protect them against the filthy environment.

Mohammad Hayul, the father of 19-year-old Sarfaraz who died while cleaning a septic tank, takes part in a protest last month

Sarfaraz was one of five men who died after they were forced by their supervisor to go inside a septic tank to clean it

Brij Mohan, a 52 year-old sewer worker shows the boils that have formed on his body due to his work in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

Three sewer workers wait to clean the sewer line in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, on September 12

They enter sewers with nothing but a safety belt with which they can be pulled free if they become asphyxiated by the poisonous gases.

He says that most of the sewer workers working under him commonly suffer from eye problems, respiratory and skin diseases.

They work in the hope of eventually earning better salaries. But even if they do receive increased wages, much of that income will have to go to the health treatment their work will inevitably induce, Malkhan Singh and Brij Mohan say.

Both men are in their fifties and have worked as manual scavengers for more than two decades. And they have both sustained injuries from working in cramped drain pipes and have been poisoned or developed chronic respiratory conditions due to the toxic gases.

Rani, whose husband Anil died while cleaning a sewer line in New Delhi, performs the last rituals at the banks of the Ganges canal in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

Rani and her three children leave their house to perform the last rituals for 37-year-old sewer worker Anil in New Delhi, India