MANGALORE: This coastal city, which is seeing a boom in construction, is yet to address the problems of labourers in the industry.

The city has become dusty, is full of trucks carrying excavated soil and hills are being flattened without any concern for the landscape. Corporation and Fire Services norms are being flouted by the industry.

Issues being discussed

But issues concerning construction labourers are being discussed by human rights and labour organisations and the Labour Department.

The State is yet to implement the Building and Other Construction Workers' Conditions of Employment Act, 1996. Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Haryana have already implemented the Act.

Karnataka Building and Construction Workers' Federation President B. Madhava told The Hindu that labour practices in the construction industry are appalling as the Government has no policy or machinery to implement labour rules in the industry.

According to him, the builders' lobby is so strong that it seems to make its own rules and has prevented the Government from implementing the 1996 Act. If the Act is to come into force, the Government has to set up a labour board and an advisory committee to implement it.

The Government must also create a labour welfare fund for the construction industry by collecting one to three per cent of the project estimate from every builder (depending on the size and type of construction). Each labourer will have to pay Rs. 20 a month to the fund, which will be used for meeting expenses such as emergency medical treatment, compensation for loss of limbs, health insurance and family benefits, including schooling and maintenance of anganwadis for the children of the workers, Mr. Madhava said.

`Disturbing picture'

He said Mangalore presents the most disturbing picture of labour management in the construction industry.

Labourers are made to work from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. with a 40-minute break for lunch. They are housed in ramshackle shacks, which are creating slums in residential areas, he added.

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