Click to play videoNew Delhi: The mishaps at the Delhi Metro construction site in south Delhi in which five people were killed after a part of the metro rail over-bridge collapsed has raised the question of safety of workers.
The workers are the anonymous faces who have been working tirelessly 12 hours a day for the last 11 years on one of India's biggest public projects. They have been meeting deadlines, delivering quality work.
But is the public aware of human cost of the Delhi Metro project? According to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), 69 workers have lost their lives since 1998, when the project first took off and 52 have been seriously injured in construction accidents.
All have been reduced to mere statistics and with the DMRC not allowing unions, the workers do not have a powerful representative.
Workers rights groups allege that the DMRC is not following safety procedures prescribed under the Building and Other Construction Workers Act.
"At every stage where there are 500 plus workers safety councils should be formed. They should meet every month. They should review the safety provisions and there should be safety campaign by the workers which is not being done at all," labour rights activist Subhash Bhatnagar alleges.
The DMRC has compensated some labourers' families. But no one seems to have asked the question - who is legally responsible for the loss of life?
"The officials responsible should be criminally prosecuted," demands SA Azaad, another labour rights activist.
Ironically, the DMRC does not allow workers to form labour unions.
"We are poor so we will have to tolerate all this for work," says a DMRC worker.
No unions, no ID cards, and hardly any compensation. In a rush to reach the deadlines has India forgotten about the people who are actually putting the Metro together.
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