In the center of the capital, more than 500 construction workers are housed in metal boxes for shipping bulk cargo. The Hindu talks to him about his daily challenges
The sleepy road behind Andhra Pradesh Bhawan in central Delhi is a picture of two opposite worlds.
The area features elegant colonial bungalows and quiet government offices with a makeshift village of shipping containers.
More than 500 migrant workers live in at least 50 of these containers kept by the roadside, most of them stacked one on top of the other in three layers, making the top level more than 30-feet high.
Each of these containers holds 12 to 14 people, who are engaged in construction work of government offices – being built by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) through a private company – in the vicinity.
talking to HinduWorkers living there complained of extreme heat and cold conditions, lack of clean toilets and washing areas, besides water seeping from the ceiling and cramped spaces inside containers.
He said he preferred to live in a traditional accommodation, even if it was a bit far from his workplace, because the containers were “weird”. However, many of them also reported that they lived in worse conditions while working at other construction sites.
CcomplaintIn adequate amounts
,In the heat and it’s like a fire is coming out (It feels like it is burning inside the containers during the summer months),” said 20-year-old Shahbaz, a migrant worker from Araria in Bihar.
Inside most containers, there are only two small fans attached to the ceiling. “The fans don’t help much. Workers often sleep late in the summer, waiting for the containers to cool down a bit,” Mr Shahbaz said. “What else can daily wage earners like us do? We need to get some sleep to be able to do the next day’s work.”
The winter months are no better for them. At night, dew drops drip from the ceiling, soaking their blankets and beds.
The containers have metal bunks on either side, separated by a narrow walkway. Many containers also feature kitchenettes on a bunk bed near the door. The workers take turns to cook the food. While the doors of containers can be closed, windows, which have been cut from metal walls, cannot be closed and residents use a curtain or cardboard to cover the opening. They hardly get any protection from the chilly nights in the capital.
“Life inside this compartment is like living in a train. The only difference is that this bogie is stable,” laughed Mohammad Shahnawaz, 31, sitting on his cot.
He said that he was living in such difficult conditions in Delhi and working only to provide for his four children and wife, who live in Araria, Bihar.
He cited other problems of living in containers as being difficult to wash and dry. About 20 temporary toilets were fitted on trolleys, but at any given time, more than half of them were clogged and became unusable, he said.
These workers have been provided accommodation in shipping containers by a contractor through a private company building the offices. As per the rules of the Delhi government, any contractor providing accommodation will have to provide facilities including clean toilets and washing areas.
The rule book states that every toilet or urinal should be kept in a sanitary condition at all times. If more than 250 workers live in one place, then there should be a canteen arrangement. The rule calls for a dining hall with furniture large enough to accommodate the workers. Canteen, kitchen, storeroom, pantry and separate places for washing utensils will have to be earmarked.
A central government law provides for a “separate place for cooking, bathing, washing and toilet facilities”. But many of these rules are lacking in these settlements.
The ladder connecting the ground, the first and the second level of the container is made of iron rods and each rung is made of two parallel rods with a gap between them. This is again a violation of regulations which state that stair pillars have to be made of straight grained wood free from defects.
Mr Shahnawaz, who has previously worked in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh, said in his 15 years of experience, Delhi is the only city where he has been provided accommodation in a container.
He said that two years ago, when he worked at a construction site next to the Delhi High Court, the living conditions in the regular rooms were better.
,habitable, inhumane’
S Irudaya Rajan, president of The Nomad (The Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development), the World Bank’s working group on internal migration and urbanisation, said she has seen similar housing arrangements for workers in West Asia and China.
“The conditions inside the containers here are not habitable; This is inhuman.’ In many places across the country.
“They cannot complain to anyone. Unless we recognize migrant workers as the backbone of our economic development and include them as beneficiaries in the schemes of state governments and smart cities, they will remain an invisible sector and their problems will remain unresolved,” Mr. Rajan said. said. When contacted, Devendra Sachan, Director (Media), CPWD did not comment.
Some employees are planning to leave work and return home due to bad conditions. “It is very cold at night; The toilets are so dirty that I don’t feel like using them. In my eight years of experience, this is the worst place I’ve been. If I had known about these circumstances, I would not have come here. I am going back next month,” said Yunus Alam, 25, from Uttar Pradesh, who started living in containers a week ago.
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