RailEnquiry

From a distance, these  shiny new tin boxes, neatly arranged one after the other  don’t look too bad.On looking closer, these boxes do not have  any  widows for ventillation,  but they do have an opening, which is either closed with a ragged cloth or a metal piece —  playing the role of a door. These are actually the homes of these migrant construction workers .With a 10 x10 feet space, with a mud floor, most of these migrant workers sleep in the open under the starry  sky. And in front of their homes, they make fires and have a pot boiling or keep a stone plate for  making chappatis.In one such settlement on the ECR, a group of 200 workers have only one toilet between them.Ram Vilas from Bihar  who is working at one of the construction sites, said, “ Toilets are a big problem here. All of us have to use this one toilet. We have a long queue in the morning and there are a lot of fights. I have to wake up very early to use it.”Women and girl chidren have it tough, in getting turns to go to the toilet. Kamala from Andhra Pradesh, said “ With lot of men around, we women, can’ t use the open spaces around either. The men also don’t make it easier for us, as they insist on using the toilets.”It is only after 6.30 pm every day, the womenfolk come home and start cooking. By the time , the men get to home with their liquor bottle, food is ready. “ After the food and liquor go down, they rest for the  night. The next day, they wake up early  to start the routine, they hurridely eat the leaftovers from the night,” she adds.

As the adult men and women toil at work, children are mostly left to fend for themselves, and have a lost, unkempt look about them.

Surekha admits, “ What to do, we do not have the time to take care of them much. Since there are other children of the same age group, they all hang  around togeather.“

And do they go to school? She said, “ No, we don’t know which school to send them to as we speak Telegu. Our children do not know Tamil.”

Another insider said, “By the time the children reach 13 they also start working along with their parents.”

Children and womens vulnerabiltity to abuse is really high, given the completely unsafe infrastructure of their homes .

Taking about safety,  Rupa said, “People have come from different states, we don’t even understand each other’s language, but we all stay togeather. Safety is the biggest challenge we face, but what to do. We have to live it.”