Over 100 seek treatment for sunburn

Agencies accused of engaging workers for outdoor work during restricted hours

Eleven people sought treatment for sunburns in the district on Monday, taking the total number of people who were hit by the soaring mercury levels in Kozhikode since March first week to 102.

According to the Health Department, seven of them are men and others are women. They are from Maniyoor, Thodannoor, Meppayyur, Peruvayal, Onchiyam, Beypore, Thiruvallur, Naduvannur, Panangad, and Theekkuni.

The maximum temperature recorded here on Monday was 36.3 degrees Celsius, 2.8 degrees Celsius above normal.

The minimum temperature was 26.8 degrees Celsius, 0.6 degrees Celsius above normal.

Holiday declared

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department has said that the maximum temperature is very likely to be above normal by 2 degrees Celsius to 3 degree Celsius in Kozhikode on Tuesday.

The District Collector has declared a holiday for Kendriya Vidyalaya-1 and Kendriya Vidyalaya-2 on Tuesday too.

Exploiting workers

Even after a directive from the Private Building Contractors’ Association (PBCA) on noticing the violation of summertime work rearrangement, a number of private agencies are still employing migrant labourers for outdoor duties at construction sites during ‘sunstroke’ hours.

Though the special squads constituted by the Labour Department have been on the field to track such practices, not many cases have been exposed.

Some contracting agencies have claimed that workers were reluctant to cooperate with alternative shift arrangements and that labourers were voluntarily taking up jobs during the restricted summer work hours.

It was the district committee of PBCA that first expressed its concern over the practice and urged builders and contractors to strictly comply with the mid-day break between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. as ordered by the Labour Department. The increasing incidents of sunburn and related ailments too had prompted them to come up with an open appeal to agencies in the sector.

The PCBA had pointed out that contractors were responsible for ensuring a healthy working atmosphere for labourers.

It had also appealed to the contracting firms to cooperate with the alternative work arrangement between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

It said small contracting groups formed by migrant workers were mostly violating the norms set by the Labour Department.