NEW DELHI: Early on Friday, a dark cloud hung over the labourers waiting at street corners for work, much like the haze over the city. With construction activities prohibited due to severe pollution, many of the labourers worried about losing incomes at festival time. Many of them natives of distant states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, they were in a dilemma – should they return to their villages or await an improvement in air quality?
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Rajjan Kushbahar, 26, from Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh, sat on the partially constructed pavement boundary in Jangpura Extension, his forehead creased with worry. “Six of us came to Delhi just two weeks ago, hoping to earn a little in the festive season,” he said. “Suddenly, our contractor informed us that we were no longer needed because work had been stopped. Now we’re heading back home with nothing in hand.”
In a similar predicament was Salman Ali and his friends from Bihar. They had even been living at the construction site to save money. He revealed, “We are paid Rs 500-1,000 per day. If we don’t get work, we’ll have no option but to return home unless we find something else to do in the next few days.”
Like Ali, many labourers had honed special skills in various aspects of construction work, such as masonry, excavation, concreting and carpentry, and are now struggling to find employment in alternative sectors. The chowks of Nehru Place are gathering places for such workers, who squat on roadsides, their tools and equipment by their side, looking for short-term contracts. But there wasn’t much requirement for them on Friday. In fact, many were fortunate to have their employers, the organised builders, redeploying them to non-construction tasks such as installing doors, windows and lights.
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For many like Gopi Gupta, 27, working in Pandav Nagar in north Delhi, the lack of crop insurance and the increasing vulnerability of agriculture due to shifting weather patterns compel them to shuttle between Delhi and Ballia, one of the most weather-vulnerable districts in UP. In the city, he is a skilled mason and back in his village, a mere farmer. “I was hit by the pandemic and lost all my savings. And just when I thought I could find some stability, I am again hurt by these restrictions,” he lamented, wondering why labourers were constantly subjected to such privations.
Santosh Chaudhary of Rajasthan, who specialises in the marble business that has floored the plush houses of south Delhi, said, “We recently received a large consignment of marble from Makrana, but with the current restrictions, we have been told to return home.”
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Manju, a 48-year-old daily wage worker from Ajmer District, packed her belongings at her makeshift dwelling under the flyover. She had migrated to Delhi when her husband fell terminally ill. “I took up jobs at construction sites, working alongside other masons to support my family back home,” she said, ruing that returning home was the only alternative at the moment.
