Sewerage Overflow? RTI to the Jal Board

Every monsoon, the same story plays out in colony after colony. Raw sewage bubbles up from a broken manhole, spreads across the lane, and seeps into the ground floor of homes. You complain on the municipal helpline. A truck comes once, pumps out the water, and leaves. Two days later the overflow is back. Nobody tells you why the sewer choked, when it was last cleaned, or who is responsible for fixing the pipe for good.

This is where the Right to Information Act becomes your tool. When officials stay silent, a written RTI application forces them to put the facts on record. Once you have those facts — the area network map, the last desilting date, the complaint entries — you can push for a real fix, or take the matter to a court or tribunal with proof in your hand.

This guide shows you, step by step, how to file an RTI about a sewerage overflow, what to ask, which authority to approach, and how to escalate when the first reply is not enough.

Sewerage in Indian cities is run by different bodies depending on where you live. In Delhi it is the Delhi Jal Board. In Mumbai it is the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai sewerage department. In Bengaluru it is the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board. In most smaller cities the municipal corporation or a state-level water and sewerage board holds the network.

Before you file, find out the exact name of the board that maintains the sewer line outside your gate. This is the public authority you will address your RTI to. If you are not sure, file to the municipal corporation of your city and ask them to transfer the application to the correct board under Section 6(3) of the RTI Act.

Three layers of law govern sewerage in India, and knowing them helps you frame sharper questions.

State municipal laws give the local body the duty to build and maintain sewers. This is the everyday law under which the Jal Board must clear blockages and repair pipes.

The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 is the central law against water pollution. Section 24 of this Act prohibits knowingly causing any polluting matter to enter a stream, well, sewer or land. A sewer overflow that lets raw sewage into a storm drain or a water body is exactly the kind of discharge this section targets. The penalty under Section 43 is imprisonment of not less than one and a half years, up to six years, plus fine. The Central Pollution Control Board was set up under Section 3 of this Act to enforce it.

The CPHEEO Manual on Sewerage and Sewage Treatment Systems, 2013 is the technical standard. It was published by the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. It comes in three parts — Part A covers engineering, Part B covers operation and maintenance, and Part C covers management. When you ask whether your sewer was cleaned as per the rules, you are really asking whether the board followed this manual.

When a sewer overflows, the cheapest fix some contractors reach for is to send a worker down the manhole without safety gear. This is illegal. The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 — also called the PEMSR Act — is Act No. 25 of 2013. It was enacted on 18 September 2013 and came into force on 6 December 2013.

Section 7 of this Act bans hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks without protective gear. The penalty is up to two years in prison plus a fine of up to Rs 2 lakh for a first offence, and up to five years plus up to Rs 5 lakh for a repeat offence.

The Supreme Court has punished this practice severely. In Safai Karamchari Andolan v Union of India (2014 INSC 212, decided 27 March 2014), the Court ordered compensation of Rs 10 lakh for every death caused by sewer or septic-tank cleaning, applied retrospectively to 1993, and directed full implementation of the 2013 Act.

In Dr. Balram Singh v Union of India (2023 INSC 950, decided 20 October 2023), the Supreme Court raised the compensation for sewer deaths from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 30 lakh. It fixed Rs 10 lakh for disability and Rs 20 lakh for a permanent disabling injury. The Court also held that hazardous cleaning without protective gear amounts to forced labour under Article 23 of the Constitution.

So when your RTI asks whether the board uses mechanised cleaning machines or sends workers into manholes, you are not being nosy. You are testing whether they are obeying a law the Supreme Court has enforced with real money.

The NAMASTE scheme — National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem — is a Central Sector scheme run by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment together with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. It was launched in July 2023 and runs up to 31 March 2026. The scheme provides protective equipment, safety devices called ERSU units, and profiling of sewer and septic tank workers, and is implemented through the NSKFDC.

An RTI question you can add is: whether the board has registered its sewer workers under NAMASTE and whether the workers were issued protective gear as per the scheme. This links your local overflow problem to a national scheme the board cannot easily deny knowing about.

Frame each question so it needs a specific, dated answer, not a yes or no.

1. Network map of the area: “Please furnish a copy of the sewerage network map covering [your area or ward], showing the line that passes through [street name], including the location and identification number of manhole [number].”
2. Complaint register entries: “Please furnish certified copies of all entries in the complaint register relating to manhole [number] or street [name] for the last 12 months, including the date of complaint, the action taken, and the date of closure.”
3. Last desilting date: “Please state the date on which the sewer line at [location] was last desilted or cleaned, the method used — mechanised or manual — and the name of the contractor or team that carried out the work.”
4. Projected resolution: “Please state the projected date by which the recurring overflow at [location] will be permanently resolved, and the specific work — relaying, redesign, pump replacement — planned for this date.”
5. Officer in charge: “Please furnish the name, designation, office address and contact number of the officer responsible for maintenance of the sewerage network in [area or ward].”

You can add a sixth question tied to safety: “Please state whether any sewer worker was sent into a manhole in [area] in the last 12 months, whether protective gear was provided, and whether the workers are registered under the NAMASTE scheme.”

To: The Public Information Officer,
[Name of Sewerage Board / Jal Board],
[Office address]

Subject: Application under Section 6 of the RTI Act, 2005 — recurring sewer overflow at [your area]

Sir/Madam,

A sewer overflow has been recurring at [exact location, with manhole number if known] in [ward / area] for the last [number] months. Please furnish the following information:

1. A copy of the sewerage network map for [area], showing the line and manhole at [location].
2. Certified copies of all complaint register entries for manhole [number] / street [name] for the last 12 months.
3. The date the line was last desilted, the method used (mechanised or manual), and the contractor or team name.
4. The projected date of permanent resolution and the specific work planned.
5. The name, designation, address and contact number of the officer in charge of sewerage maintenance in [area].
6. Whether any worker was sent into a manhole in [area] in the last 12 months, whether protective gear was provided, and whether workers are registered under the NAMASTE scheme.

I am a citizen of India and am depositing the application fee of Rs. 10 by [Indian Postal Order / court fee stamp / cash]. Kindly furnish the information within the period fixed under the RTI Act.

Name: [your name]
Address: [your address]
Contact: [phone / email]
Date: [date]

The application fee for a central public authority is Rs 10 under the Central RTI Rules, 2012. You can pay by Indian Postal Order, court fee stamp, or cash against a receipt. State fees vary widely — from Rs 0 in some states to Rs 50 in Haryana and Tamil Nadu, and Rs 20 in Gujarat. Check your state's RTI rules before you file. If you hold a Below Poverty Line card, the fee is waived everywhere under Section 7(5) of the RTI Act. For the full fee table by state, see the RTI fee structure guide.

You can file in three ways.

By hand: Carry two copies of the application to the PIO's office. Submit one, get the second stamped and signed as proof of receipt.

By post: Send by registered post with the fee as an Indian Postal Order favouring the accounts officer of the board. Keep the postal receipt and the IPO counterfoil.

Online: Many states and the central government run RTI online portals. If your Jal Board is covered, fill the form, upload your ID, and pay by net banking or UPI. The portal generates a reference number you can track.

Once the PIO receives your application, the reply is due within 30 days — 48 hours if the information concerns the life or liberty of a person, which a sewage overflow creating a health hazard can be. If no reply comes, or the reply is evasive, you climb the ladder one rung at a time.

1. First appeal: Within 30 days of the expiry of the reply period, file a first appeal to the First Appellate Authority of the same board. This is a simple letter saying the PIO did not reply or did not answer your questions. No extra fee.
2. Second appeal: If the first appeal also fails, file a second appeal to the Central Information Commission for a central authority, or your State Information Commission, within 90 days. The commission can summon the PIO, impose a penalty of up to Rs 25,000, and order the information released.
3. Pollution control board complaint: Because the overflow discharges sewage into a drain or water body, you can also file a complaint with the State Pollution Control Board under the Water Act, 1974, citing Section 24.
4. Court or tribunal: With the RTI replies in hand, you can approach the National Green Tribunal for environmental damage, or a civil court for a mandatory order to repair the line. The documents you obtained are your proof.

1. No manhole number: Without the manhole or gully number, the board can claim it cannot identify the spot. Find the number painted on the manhole cover or on the board's asset register before you file.
2. Vague location: Write the exact street, landmark and ward, not just “my colony”.
3. Skipping the CPHEEO compliance ask: Always ask whether the cleaning was done as per the CPHEEO Manual. This is the technical standard the board must meet.
4. Forgetting the safety question: If you do not ask whether workers were sent into the manhole, you miss the chance to expose a violation of the PEMSR Act, 2013.
5. Missing the appeal deadline: The 30-day window for a first appeal is strict. Mark it on your calendar the day you file the RTI.

• Q: Is sending a worker into a manhole to clear my sewer illegal? Yes, if done without protective gear. Section 7 of the PEMSR Act, 2013 bans hazardous manual cleaning. The board must use mechanised machines. If a worker has died, the family is entitled to Rs 30 lakh under Dr. Balram Singh v Union of India, 2023 INSC 950.
• Q: The overflow is from a sewage treatment plant, not a street manhole. What do I do? File a separate RTI to the operator of the treatment plant, usually the same Jal Board or a private contractor. Ask for the plant's inlet and outlet flow logs, the last maintenance report, and any show-cause notice issued by the pollution control board.
• Q: Can I ask for compensation for damage to my home? RTI only gets you information. Use the information as evidence in a civil claim or before the consumer forum for deficiency in service. See the drainage RTI guide for the parallel drainage process.
• Q: The Jal Board says it is the municipal corporation's job, and vice versa. What now? File to both. RTI Section 6(3) lets a PIO who does not hold the information transfer your application to the correct authority within five days. Name both bodies in your appeal if neither replies.

• RTI for a clogged or blocked drain
• RTI for a water supply problem
• RTI application fee structure by state

• The RTI Playbook — our complete, step-by-step guide to drafting and filing an RTI that gets a real answer, with templates and escalation tactics.
• If this guide helped you hold your Jal Board to account, consider a small donation so we can keep these resources free for every citizen.

1. Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (Act No. 25 of 2013) — https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/2119
2. Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 — https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/18919
3. CPHEEO Manual on Sewerage and Sewage Treatment Systems, 2013, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs — https://mohua.gov.in/publication/manual-on-sewerage-and-sewage-treatment-systems--2013.php
4. Safai Karamchari Andolan v Union of India, 2014 INSC 212 (27 March 2014) — https://indiankanoon.org/doc/6155772/
5. Dr. Balram Singh v Union of India, 2023 INSC 950 (20 October 2023) — https://api.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2020/4072/4072_2020_8_1502_47917_Judgement_20-Oct-2023.pdf
6. NAMASTE scheme, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment — https://socialjustice.gov.in/schemes/37
7. Central RTI Rules, 2012 — RTI fee structure

Last reviewed: 3 July 2026.