Sewerage's Reproduction of Caste

The development of Ahmedabad's sewerage system both impinged upon and was itself modified to accommodate India's caste structure. Sewers became markers of legitimacy, sophistication, and moral citizenship through the notion of the “civic sense,” having corporeal, political, and economic repercussions upon the untouchable Bhangi caste, whose livelihood changed from sweeping gutters to clearing choked sewer pipes. Sanitation technology's humane intents were subverted over time by how the sewers were used and maintained, as caste discrimination was perpetuated under the aegis of public well-being and urban necessity.