Safety of construction workers

Relatively high disaster toll of construction workers in Uttarakhand – short of work force despite a number of major infrastructure projects – is a major cause of concern as it threatens to derail the pace of growth and development. Though rooted in negligence in siting the work force accommodation, the issue is really not that simple and requires a comprehensive framework aligned with Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) priorities.

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संगम चट्टी हो या नैनीताल, या फिर सुमना या त्यूणी;  विगत के आंकड़ों से पता चलता है कि राज्य में घटित होने वाली आपदाओं के कारण बड़ी संख्या में मजदूरों की मृत्यु होती है और इस के कारण राज्य में क्रियान्वित विभिन्न परियोजनाओं की प्रगति पर प्रतिकूल प्रभाव पड़ सकता है।

इन घटनाओ के लिये विभिन्न राज्यों से आने वाले मजदूरों के आवास के लिये की जाने वाली व्यवस्थाओ में लापरवाही के प्रथमदृष्टा उत्तरदायी प्रतीत होने पर भी इस प्रकार की घटनाओ की पुनरावृत्ति को रोकने के लिये अस्थाई सहित मानव आवास के लिये प्रयुक्त होने वाली सभी प्रकार की संरचनाओं की आपदाओं से सुरक्षा के लिये पर्याप्त वैधानिक उपाय करने के साथ ही, विशेष रूप से पहाड़ी क्षेत्र में किसी भी प्रकार के अवसंरचना विकास कार्य की अनुमति देने से पहले निर्माण हेतु चयनित स्थान की भविष्य में आपदा से प्रभावित हो सकने की सम्भावना का गहन भू-वैज्ञानिक आंकलन अनिवार्य किया जाना आवश्यक है ।  

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SFDRR and Build Back Better

Included in  SFDRR as one of the priorities for action, Build Back Better (BBB) is cardinal to preventing new and reducing existing disaster risks, and thus a must for ensuring disaster resilience. BBB however has many facets that go well beyond generally understood realm of structural interventions alone. It implies identifying practices and interventions that aggravate disaster induced losses, and systematically and consciously doing away with these during the post-disaster phase – in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

In depth post-disaster assessment to identify the cause of disaster is thus a prerequisite for initiating BBB. This exercise is however seldom undertaken and thus no one ever gets to know anything pertaining to vulnerability functions of the disaster affected area or population objectively, and after a while life goes on as it had been.

Nothing pertaining to BBB is ever identified, and thus never initiated.

Disaster toll of construction workers

Review of the disaster loss data of Uttarakhand that has been affected by a number of major disaster incidences in quick succession since 2010, shows construction workers to constitute a significant proportion of casualties. This often skews statistical analysis and introduces a bias in the mitigation strategy.

It is therefore required that the magnitude of losses be assessed category wise with particular focus on their specific vulnerability, so as to design and implement customised prevention and mitigation measures in the spirit of BBB, and to bring forth disaster resilience.

Sangam Chatti, Uttarkashi

Cloudburst in the early hours of  August 4, 2012 in the catchment of Assiganga and Swarigad rivers caused the waters of Bhagirathi to rise to 1127 m – 4 m above the danger level. Apart from other losses, this led to washing away of a bridge at Gangori on the Rishikesh – Gangotri National Highway (NH 34) which disrupted physical connectivity with Bhatwari and Gangotri. Heavy losses were incurred to an under-construction power project on Assiganga, and the entire establishment of the Fire and Emergency Service at Gangori was washed off.

Apart from the locals, of the 35 casualties in this incidence, 03 were of Fire and Emergency Service washed off from Gangori while 19 were construction workers of Assiganga hydropower project – 15 from Nepal, and 2 each from Jharkhand and UP who were staying in their camp around Sangam Chatti on the left bank of Assiganga river downstream of the power project.

Tyuni, Dehradun

In the wee hours of May 23, 2016 hills of Dehradun district experienced a particularly strong thunderstorm. Apart from other losses strong winds and rainfall facilitated a rock slide around Chatra in Tyuni tehsil.

This resulted in caving in of a rock shelter along an under construction road. Of the 14 construction workers from Nepal staying in this rock shelter 10 were crushed to death, while 04 were seriously injured.

Dhauliganga, Chamoli 

In the morning hours of February 7, 2021 Dhauliganga river valley experienced a major flood that devastated two hydropower projects at Rini and Tapoban.

Except for 02 Police personnel and 09 locals all other 193 persons killed in this incidence were engaged in construction and other works at these hydropower projects. 

Joshimath, Chamoli

After easing of COVID-19 related restrictions Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was speeding up construction of strategically important Joshimath – Malari – Rimkhim road leading to Sino-Indian border.

Arrangements were made around Sumna to house the construction workers engaged for this work, mostly from Jharkhand. This area was overrun by an avalanche on April 23, 2021 and 18 persons were killed in this incidence.

Nainital

82 human lives were lost in landslides and floods induced by forecasted but unusually heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand on October 18-19, 2021. Kumaun division  accounted for 70% casualties of which 55% were in Nainital district alone.

Of the 35 persons killed in Nainital 40% were construction workers; 05 at Chaukhuta in Dhari from West Champaran (Bihar) and Ambedkar Nagar (UP), 02 at Kwarab in Kaushya-Kutauli from Barielly (UP) and 07 at Sakuna in Nainital from Bettiah (Bihar).

Such losses were however not restricted to Nainital, and 03 construction workers from Nepal were killed at Samkhal in Pauri Garhwal while 01 from West Champaran (Bihar) was killed at Gangolihat in Pithoragarh.

Implications of recurring toll of construction workers

One would agree that the natives or residents of the province generally do not prefer to work as construction worker. This is testified by the very fact that most persons involved in the above cited incidences were not from the province.

Casualties of construction workers from outside the province can however  be explained in another manner – locals do not stay in the colonies created for construction workers from outside, and leave for their homes after the day’s work.

This however does not refute the fact that migrant construction workers constitute significant portion of disaster induced casualties in the province.   

Recurring heavy toll of migrant work force could have negative implications on the future of various infrastructure projects in the province which is to be reflected adversely in the pace of growth and development. Addressing this issue therefore warrants high priority for the state.

Reasons of high disaster toll

Assessing the cause of all these and many more similar casualties is no rocket science. Anyone with little understanding of the ground realities would agree that these persons were staying at a wrong place.

Put otherwise, it can be stated that high spatial vulnerability of the sites selected for housing the construction workers has been responsible for all these losses, which could have been avoided with little concern, effort, empathy and sincerity.

Construction workforce in Uttarakhand

Losses of this kind are owed to human neglect, but then, as put forth in the beginning, understanding genesis of the problem is a must before proposing a viable solution.

As stated previously the province has shortage of workforce, particularly one willing to work as construction worker.

The province is at the same time witnessing major infrastructure development projects; rail, road, hydropower and the like, and all these require workers with different skills in large numbers.

Due to lacking local availability, concerned agency or contractor is left with no other option but to engage people from far off places. This is also an advantageous proposition for the agency or contractor as these persons have little or no local engagement or distraction, and are therefore able to devote their full time towards the work.

Workforce accommodation

Coming from far and wide the construction workers engaged baby the agency or contractor have no place of their own to stay, and for the larger good of the project and ease of management the concerned agency or contractor generally takes up the burden of arranging the logistics.

Arranging rented accommodation or renting a site for temporary accommodation not being economically viable, accommodation for the construction workers is generally arranged on the land temporarily under the command of the agency or contractor. The main considerations for site selection include (i) availability of flat ground, (ii) proximity to the construction site, and (iii) availability of water.

Moreover, no clearances are required for erecting temporary structures in the province from any authority, and assessing hazard safety is not mandatory even for permanent structures. So the structures for housing the construction workers crop up anywhere in the proximity of the construction site.

Coming from far off places, the workers residing at these places are unaware of both prevalent hazards in the region and hazard profile of the area. Moreover, they possess no skills of coping up with these hazards. All this enhances vulnerability and risk profile of the workers.

Post disaster scenario

After the disaster entire machinery is busy in rescue and relief. With lacking culture of post-disaster review or analysing the causes of disaster – no one bothers to scrutinise if the area affected by hazard was vulnerable or prone to hazard. Real cause of the disaster is therefore never known and thus there are no efforts to introduce any specific measures for warding off similar instances in future. Life goes on as it had been, and stage is set for yet another mishap.

The existing provisions thus fail to establish culpability of the agency or contractor, and there arises no responsiveness to set the things right and pay attention towards required precautionary safety measures.

Way forward

Uniform policy

What if someone establishes that all these losses could have been  prevented if the construction workers were housed at a relatively safer place or the sites for housing the workers were selected after due consultation with a trained geologist?

If convinced of this, can the state enact a regulation for safe siting of accommodation for construction workers?

The answer is really not that straight forward as it seems.

Any attempt to regulate the accommodation for construction workers alone could be held as being discriminatory and amounting to exposing the agency or contractor to disadvantage as there really exist no provision to regulate temporary structures in the province.

So the solution has to be comprehensive and not exclusive to construction workers and all this is not at all going to be simple and straight forward.

Comprehensive HRVA

To begin with the state has to undertake detailed hazard, vulnerability and risk assessment (HRVA) of the province and make the masses aware of the outcome rather than treating all this as classified. 

This would further the cause of the first priority of SFDRR– understanding disaster risk and help in bringing forth disaster resilience.

After this the state has to strengthen disaster risk governance – second priority of SFDRR – and formally notify all areas falling in high hazard zone as being unsafe and categorically disallow or regulate all anthropogenic activities therein.

Based on this HRVA exercise the state has also to put in efforts to reduce vulnerability and risk in the identified zones.

Regulating constructions

Having done this, rather than targeting the accommodation for construction workers alone, the state should strictly regulate all constructions – temporary or permanent; particularly if these are intended to accommodate people.

Moreover, state should at the same time put in place regulations for ascertaining safety of the proposed construction site as no such provision  is in in place presently.

It needs to be understood that such a provision is a must for the Himalayan region that is geologically highly active and no disaster safe technique in this terrain can ensure safety of a structure if it is sited at a wrong place.

Post-disaster audit

The state should at the same time make post-disaster audit, for establishing the causes and identifying specifics aggravating the losses, a mandatory condition for providing relief to disaster affected population out of public exchequer.

Action against violators

As a follow up of the above provision, and to ensure effective compliance of the mandated safety related norms, relief should be disallowed for disaster induced losses in the notified unsafe zones and as those caused by violation or neglect of established safety norms or rules.

Where this neglect causes third party losses or loss of life, appropriate criminal proceedings should be initiative against the defaulters.

If enforced in letter and spirit these provisions would ensure safety and reduce the toll of disaster induced losses in the province.

Aware of the implications of violating the norms, not only construction agencies or contractors but also others would ensure due diligence before undertaking construction works.

This would significantly reduce routine toll of disaster incidences in the province besides providing an environment of safety to both workers and investors that in turn would accelerate the pace of growth and development.