10 lives claimed, blood shed again for 2010 cwg

Blood is cheaper than water in India, this is what our bollywood films and some regional politicians claim. The preparations for commonwealth games stamped it right. Again 10 laborers are killed in a rush to finish work early. Every department is working under tremendous pressure to complete the work on schedule but that does not mean that they are free to claim lives. It is Delhi metro or other department, they all have become killers of ordinary men and the real throb comes in when they dishonor their responsibility.

The race to complete venues for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi has cost the lives of at least 10 construction workers, while hundreds have been injured.

After one labourer, Shailendra Kumar, 28, was killed by a falling crane, there were two days of violent protests by those working to build the athletes’ village. Kumar was said to have warned his employers the crane was in dangerous condition.

The Commonwealth Games Federation has denied any responsibility for safety at the 19 sites. Michael Hooper, its chief executive, said he had no comment about workers’ deaths or health and safety.

“You need to talk to the relevant authorities. Each country has its own health and safety rules and monitoring system,” he said.

With nine sites reportedly less than half complete, Delhi 2010 has already suffered one of the highest death tolls of any recent large sports event.

Six workers died during construction for last year’s Beijing Olympics, with 14 deaths at Athens 2004 sites and one at Sydney 2000. No laborers were killed during building work for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

Indian union leaders have blamed a rush to meet tight deadlines for the Games in October next year. Inadequate health and safety equipment, poor living conditions and long working hours at the athletes’ village and three city stadiums have also been cited.

“Officially, 10 workers have died but we believe the real number is much higher,” claimed Rajeev Sharma, projects director at the Building and Wood Workers’ International union.

“It’s a catch-22 for the government. On the one hand they have deadlines to meet, but on the other there are violations of labor laws.”

The latest victim – a 20-year-old laborer called Sunil – was crushed to death at the flagship Jawaharlal Nehru stadium when a cement mixer toppled onto him.

A police spokesman said, “lax safety measures at the construction site could be the primary reason”.

A senior executive of the company Arora Constructions, who declined to give his name, said Sunil’s family would be paid compensation “over the passage of time”. He added, however: “I’m not sure whether he was even our laborer.”

According to a report by the People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR), an Indian civil rights group, laborers “claim that a number of workers have similarly died or been injured at the village site”.

“They also claim that the bodies of the victims are simply disposed of and the injured are sent back to their villages.”

The report makes allegations about poor safety standards and living quarters at the village site. “The majority of workers do not have shoes of any kind,” it says.

Workers are also alleged to have died in an outbreak of meningitis allegedly linked to poor living conditions.

The PUDR report claimed laborers had to share 10ft by 10ft brick huts between six to eight people. The rooms, which have tin roofs, have no fans. Water is supplied in PVC tanks.

Emaar MGF, the Dubai-based company and its partner Ahluwalia Contracts India, which are responsible for the 118-acre village site, said two workers had died there and their families had been compensated. Unions claimed there had been six deaths.

The companies denied that any workers had died from meningitis, but said an outbreak had required preventative measures. “Proper safety gear” was “issued to all workers free of cost”, they said.

The government is keen to deflect criticism of the Games, which, at a cost of £1 billion, are the biggest sporting event in India’s history. They are expected to attract about 100,000 visitors.

International unions have condemned the Games federation’s response.

“Whether it is the Commonwealth Games or FIFA or the Olympic committee, they share the responsibility with what is happening at their event, and this includes labor rights,” said Kristin Blom of the International Trade Union Confederation in Brussels.