Labourers were packed like sardines in 24 rooms

KARNAL: The collapse of a threestorey building, which housed labourers of a rice mill, in Taraori of Karnal, has once again brought to fore a much-neglected issue – the poor living conditions provided to migrant labourers by their employers.

The building in question had been in a dilapidated state for several years and had a seepage problem but was still housing more people than its capacity, as per the labour contractor.

Nearly 150 migrants were cramped in around 24 rooms, with each room accommodating at least six to eight labourers.

Four of them were killed and at least 20 injured in the building collapse on Tuesday.

As per the FIR, there was negligence on the part of owners of Shiv Shakti Rice Mills and the incident could have been averted had timely steps been taken.

The Karnal district administration has formed a committee to look into the cause of the building collapse and if there were any structure or stability issues. Deputy commissioner Anish Yadav said a committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Karnal sub-divisional magistrate and executive engineer of the public works department (B&R) with an official of the Haryana labour department as member.

Labour contractor Ramdev Mehto, who had deputed workers at the Shiv Shakti rice mill, said the labour quarters had been constructed near the rice mill to ensure round-the-clock availability of workers. “But nothing was done to ensure the safety of the workers,” he said in his police complaint.

“The building was quite old and water from the toilet and kitchen was seeping into its foundation. I had even alerted the rice mill owners on several occasions but my requests fell on deaf ears and no action was taken,” he alleged.

When contacted, DP Singh, deputy director, industrial safety and health, of the Haryana labour department said the incident is being looked at as case study by the department and further action will be taken as per the findings of the committee.