“This is not meant for human beings,” said District Medical Officer K.M. Shirabuddin, pointing to the deplorable condition of the latrine at the camp site of migrant labourers at Pippinmoodu, during an inspection by a team of officials from the Health and Labour departments on Tuesday.
As many as 60 labourers from Assam, who are part of the workforce employed by a private builder, are put up at the camp.
“These are our own men and we cannot treat them like this,” he said.
The latrine, closed with hollow bricks on three sides, does not have a septic tank and the faecal matter flows into an open drain, which is close to a posh residential colony.
There is only one latrine at the camp.
The condition of the rooms is bad. The crammed rooms made of polythene sheets do not have lighting facility and the workers use a small portion of the room to cook food. “The water they use is unhygienic and cannot be consumed even after boiling, said A.S Pradeep Kumar, Additional Director, Public Health.
At the time of inspection, the site was almost empty, except for two workers who had not reported for work as they were unwell.
Arup Dhas, a resident of Guwahati, told The Hindu that they were paid properly but their biggest problem was non-availability of quality water and mosquito menace.
“Around 5,000 people from Assam are working at various construction sites in the city. The majority of them are paid Rs.15,000 a month. Back home, the daily wage is only Rs.200 to Rs.250 a day,” he said.
Dr. Pradeep said the appalling living condition was not only a health threat to the workers but to society as well. “These workers are highly vulnerable to infectious diseases such as dengue, malaria, typhoid, cholera and viral fever.
“The workers interact with a large segment of people at the work site and elsewhere,” he added.
The inspection, he said, was conducted to get a first-hand account of the living conditions of the workers and chalk out a strategy to improve facilities.
