India, June 9 -- Highlighting the brutal intersection of climate crisis and caste injustice, the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA) has demanded immediate State intervention and the "right to life" for sanitation workers operating amidst unprecedented, life-threatening heatwaves across the country.

With India currently witnessing some of the highest temperatures globally, making outdoor conditions virtually unlivable, the SKA pointed out that while heat protection measures are being discussed for other sectors, Safai Karmacharis remain entirely invisible. The organisation noted that workers are being forced to clean human excreta, drains, sewers, septic tanks, and railway tracks under direct sun exposure and inside toxic spaces filled with p...