Building owners seek more time for providing facilities to guest workers

A couple of building owners from Kayakkodi grama panchayat were left disappointed on Wednesday as they could not meet District Collector U.V. Jose to buy more time to relocate a group of guest workers who are their tenants. The panchayat authorities recently slapped closure notices on them after observing that the buildings were unhygienic.

The unhealthy nature of the guest workers’ accommodation in the area came to limelight in January when around 50 filariasis cases were reported from the panchayat. Around 700 persons were found to be living in 10 buildings. Some filariasis cases were reported from the nearby Kavilumpara grama panchayat too. In February, the District Collector had asked the building owners to provide the required facilities to the labourers and warned of invoking the provisions of the Disaster Managment Act, 2005, if they did not toe the line. Three months down the line, five of them were yet to provide the facilities.

Nasar Kaiyullathil, Congress activist and member of a local people’s collective, told The Hindu on Wednesday that some of the buildings in Kayakkodi had been found to be unauthorised constructions. There were allegations that paddy fields were filled for the purpose. “As many as 160 people were found to be living in one building. Around 300 or more labourers are there altogether. People were even sleeping inside toilets,” he said. Though notices were sent by the panchayat authorities, the building owners refused to receive them. The panchayat decided to act tough and sent them a final warning recently.

On Wednesday, the building owners took a group of guest labourers to the Kozhikode collectorate in a bid to buy more time. However, as the Collector was out of town on official purposes, they had to return disappointed. Musthafa, one of the owners, said they had got the notice only two months ago and it was difficult to shift the labourers in such a short time. Their contention was that the labourers would be on the streets if the buildings were closed. “We are planning to take legal recourse,” he said.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the local bodies are yet to inspect the possibility of filariasis among the guest labourers in the nearby Kuttiyadi grama panchayat, who too are reportedly living in abysmal circumstances. There are around 3,000 guest workers in the panchayat limits and inspections by the health authorities have covered only 300 of them.