# Indian cities tailor sanitation workers’ gear to comfort and safety 2026-08-06T14:49:09+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Indore and Bengaluru are adapting sanitation workers’ uniforms and protective gear after consulting those who use them. Indore Municipal Corporation changed its standard design after feedback from safai mitras. Many women chose saris, while men preferred T-shirts, lace-free shoes and wrap stoles. Modal fabric, customised gloves, raincoats and fluorescent jackets were added. Of Indore’s 7,500 safai mitras, 60% are women, The Hindu reports. Bengaluru-based Hasiru Dala launched an open-source PPE design in August 2025 for informal waste workers. The kit includes task-specific gloves, boots, masks and jackets, with materials and measurements publicly available. More than 100 workers have piloted it. Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited, which supervises 20,000 pourakarmikas, has shown interest, with plans to extend the kits to at least 35 dry waste collection centres in the coming months. ## Coverage - thehindu.com Tags: Bengaluru, Indore, PPE, sanitation workers, waste management Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/indian-cities-tailor-sanitation-workers-gear-to-comfort-and-safety/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/indian-cities-tailor-sanitation-workers-gear-to-comfort-and-safety/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.