Workers building airport terminal face health hazards

New Delhi: A brand new terminal may be coming up at the international airport in the Indian capital to decongest growing air traffic but workers at the construction site are complaining of poor sanitation, long duty hours and, above all, deadly mosquitoes.
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has hired more than 8,500 workers for the construction work by awarding a sub-tender to a well-known company, Larsen & Toubro (L&T).
The authorities have constructed temporary residential colonies for 7,000 workers at the new airport site, but the labourers told IANS they were not being provided good food or proper sanitation facilities.
'We start work at eight in the morning and end up only after eight in the evening. Then we cover a distance of almost three kilometres, a rough and dangerous path, on foot to reach the makeshift rooms,' said Rambabu, a worker who has come from West Bengal's Malda district to work here.
The path they have to cross is the dug-up area around the existing airport. Heavy machinery - road rollers and cranes - and men work there continuously in shifts and no one is allowed to enter the site. Workers have been given fluorescent jackets and hard caps to prevent any untoward incidents.
'In each room, shared by at least 10-12 labourers, we have to struggle with mosquitoes. We have complained of this to our contractor and other officials concerned but no one is bothered. Fortunately, no one has fallen ill from mosquito-borne diseases,' Rambabu told IANS at the construction site.
31/10/07 Sahil Makkar/Earthtimes, UK

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Categories: Airports Oct 2007