Developers pass the blame on to workers

BENGALURU: Even as labourers left in hordes fearing for their lives, Sobha Developers maintained that they had asked the labourers to leave as they wanted to sanitise the labour camp.Brigadier Ravi Nair, Senior Vice President, Administration, Sobha Developers Ltd, said, “We have around 1,200 labourers inhabiting this colony. The men you see sweeping this camp are our sub-contractors and our own staff. There are around 300 sub-contractors. I don’t think it is a cholera outbreak, otherwise labourers at other camps would have also fallen sick, which they didn’t.

We have two other camps with 1,000 labourers. These men are poor and live in unhygienic conditions so they must have carried the disease with them.”He said the labourers were paid every 15 days and that the reason they are not being paid now is that they are expected to report back to work after the camp is sanitised.

Bichitra, a labourer from Odisha, said, “If it hadn’t been for our wages, you wouldn’t have found a single man standing here. We are waiting to collect them and leave.” However, they did not receive their wages, and thought it wiser to leave.

Pavan C, construction manager, said, “We take enough care of our labourers. The labourers are just venting their frustration as this is their chance. Now that three have died, a lot of people are questioning their living conditions. None of their (labourers’) allegations are true.”

The survivors

Lying in the ICU of St John’s Hospital is Akkur Behra from Odisha, a father of three who is on dialysis.
“My wife Lata, sons Chandan and Rajan, and daughter Pooja, are waiting for me at home. I spoke to them on the phone and they can’t come here to visit me. I was here only for two months and don’t have any money. The water was really bad and I had persistent diarrhoea,” he said.  Doctors said he had tested positive for cholera and that had worsened his condition making him need dialysis.