Labourers die of heat for want of shade, water

Five peacocks died  due to shortage of drinking water in Karimnagar 

Eleven MNREGS labourers died of sunstroke and other complications at various places due to temperatures above 46 Degree Celsius in the district since the last 15 days.

The labourers’ lives had been at stage also because of a lack of shelter and water at the work site.

The District Water Management Agency( DWMA), the implementing agency of MNREGS has not been providing water not erecting shades at the work site.

The officials concerned usually ducked responsibility by citing drinking water shortage and asking the labourers to work only in the morning hours and evening to avoid high temperatures in the afternoon and carry their own water.

The DWMA was earlier paying an additional Rs 2 a day an additional to each labourer who carried his or her own water and Rs 5 a day to each labourer if they carried 5 litres of water to the work site for their own consumption.  

DWMA project director B. Shankar said so far they had officially recorded the death of a labourer duet to sunstroke in Bejjur 15 days ago; he added that they would take consideration of the death only when the labourer had marked the muster on that particular day.

He said they were in the process of calling tenders for purchasing 35,000 shades. About 1.5lakh labourers (job seekers) were working against a total 3 lakh active job card holders in the district.      

They fell sick after being affected with sunstroke and died while undergoing treatment or complained of vomiting and diarrhoea at their home.

Naturally, labourers affected with sunstroke, cannot attend work not sigh the muster. A majority of the workers are not drinking sufficient water too due o a shortage of water while some of them were drinking polluted water.

It is the responsibility of the officials concerned to provide drinking water and ORS kits with primary medical aid and to put up shelters at the worksite.

Officials point out that if they could not provide drinking water to the labourers that why were they paying them additional money.

Rythu Athma Hatyala Nivarana Committee district president Sangepu Borranna said the majority of the supervisor (mate) were not carrying the umbrellas supplied by the DWMA in the past to worksite in the villages in mandals like Bhainsa, Dahegoan, Neredigonda and Boath. They were keeping them at home.