FP Analysis: Not just stray dogs, Noida labour department also to blame for death of infant at Lotus Boulevard

Noida/Ghaziabad: Life is often cheap in the vicinity of sky-scraping towers that will house the rich and powerful. Who has not come across kids of construction workers playing and sleeping around construction sites. Every now and then they fall prey to falling debris or pits, or in the latest incident to stray dogs.

In a most unfortunate incident a seven-month-old died after being mauled by stray dogs at Noida’s Lotus Boulevard in Sector 100. The incident has obviously put dog-haters and dog-lovers at loggerheads, but what is missing in the debate is the responsibility of the employer of the parents.

Abhinay Singh, a resident of the Lotus Boulevard told Firstpost that the spot where the dog bite incident occurred is situated inside the society, however, it is covered from all sides due to the construction work and no one is allowed to enter that zone.

“The tower 30 of our society is being constructed since past two years. Finishing of the tower is going on and Insolvency Resolution Process (IRP) officials are heading the operations there; the Apartment Owner Association nor the employees of the builder are allowed to enter the construction zone,” he said.

Singh said the unfortunate incident could have been avoided if anyone was around at that time.

“It raises a big question: how construction workers are living in dismal conditions at construction sites; clearly they are helpless, otherwise no parent leaves their infant alone,” he added.

Protected by law, but not practice

According to the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, children should not be around any construction sites and a construction company that employs over 50 women as labourers is bound to provide a clean room, basically a crèche, away from the unhygienic conditions, along with other basic facilities for their children up to the age of six.

However, it is rather unfortunate that hardly any construction site in Noida and Ghaziabad has the required setup.

Brajesh Rai, a retired deputy labour commissioner of Noida, told Firstpost that labour and factory law officials are bound to carry out time-to-time surveys at construction sites to ensure implementation of laws.

“Despite the surveys and regular scrutiny, I think hardly any construction site in Noida complies to the labour laws,” he said.

“Forget crèche, hardly 50% builder-contractors give proper security gear to the workers, many a times they fail to arrange the basics,” said Rai, adding that workers are made to live in extremely unhygienic quarters made out of tin.

Administration sleeping

When asked about the last survey carried out to ensure safety of construction workers in Noida, Brijesh Singh, assistant director of factories (ADF) failed to recall.

He, however, said that it is the responsibility of the construction companies to provide crèche facilities to the construction workers.

“We have in the past issued notices and have escalated the loopholes with the law authorities,” he said, adding that he has sought month-wise report of these surveys and shall inform once compiled.

The ADF has also promised to look after the facilities in the Lotus Boulevard society.

District Magistrate Suhas LY could not be reached for a comment, despite repeated attempts through PRO.

How’s it in Ghaziabad?

Meanwhile, in Ghaziabad, labour commissioner Ravi Srivastava agreed to the fact that construction companies were not providing even the bare minimum facilities to ensure safety of labourers and workers.

“From April 2022 till date, the factory law officials have conducted around 35 surveys at different locations of Ghaziabad and reports have been submitted to chief judicial magistrate (CJM),” he said.

According to Srivastava only one construction site has been served notice in connection with missing crèche facility.

“In future, we will carry out drives and focus on issues of women workers so that incidents like the one in Noida can be avoided,” he said.

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