The current drive to remove encroachment on footpath, by the GHMC, which is going full steam ahead, is not accompanied by adequate safety measures for its workers on the site.
For starters, the workers, sporting the trademark orange coloured jackets, wore neither proper headgear nor gloves while clearing the debris. A few of them wore shoes that belonged to them and not the safety boots provided by the Corporation.
Protective measures were not put in place even after an incident on the first day of the drive, in which a worker was injured.
P. Mahesh Babu received a head injury on June 30 while on the job of removing encroachments from a footpath at Miyapur. An iron rod fell on his head when an illegally installed spiral staircase was being removed using the earth moving machinery.
“My head broke and started bleeding profusely. I was rushed to a private hospital nearby where I received sutures,” he said.
After he was sent home, GHMC officials seem to have totally forgotten about the incident, or the follow-up to be done in terms of providing him medical relief. “I received a call from the hospital asking about the bill payment, as the officials had not paid it,” complained Mr. Mahesh Babu. What’s more, he was asked by officials to approach ESI hospital when he complained about headaches and pain in the ear in subsequent days.
“When I expressed doubts that a nerve might have been damaged, they asked me to go to ESI Hospital, and get a referral to any private hospital. I was not in a condition to travel that far, and went to a hospital in Kacheguda on my own. I had to spend nearly ₹5,000 on fee, tests and medicines,” he said.
Corporation has not provided any safety gear for the workers, he said, adding that half of the work force deployed for demolition of footpath encroachments by the Vigilance and Enforcement Directorate were untrained. “I was working as a hydraulic technician at Malakpet, and was transferred to this wing all of a sudden along with others. We have not received any training in work pertaining to demolition,” he complains.
Director, Vigilance & Enforcement, Disaster Management of GHMC, Viswajeet Kampati said that the wing had recruited its teams from the outsourced street-lighting employees who had been left jobless after installation of LED street-lights. “We had asked about 260 persons to join this wing, but only about 100 have reported to us so far. We have imparted training to them,” Mr. Kampati said.
He also refuted the charges that the Corporation did not provide safety gear, and vouched that every vehicle used in the drive of footpath encroachment removal is equipped with jackets, helmets, gloves and boots for the workers. “We also insist that they wear them, but the workers do not comply. They find it comfortable to work without helmets,” Mr. Kampati said, while claiming that Mr. Mahesh Babu was given medical assistance.
