Delhi anti-pollution measures spell livelihood crisis for daily wage workers

As authorities in the Delhi-NCR impose restrictions to combat the worsening air quality in the region, the brunt of the anti-pollution measures is being faced by daily-wage workers involved in construction activities, whose lives have ground to a standstill.

Workers who depend on daily earnings to survive said they are worried their children will starve to death.

Construction and demolition activities (C&D) are banned under the current GRAP-IV measures that came into effect after many parts of Delhi reported 'severe-plus' air quality (AQI above 450).

Suman, a 45-year-old mother of two, says, “If we sit at home, what will we eat? What will we feed our children?"

She recently renewed her labour card with the hope of receiving government aid, but she says it has been a futile exercise. "We don’t have government jobs where salaries come automatically. We survive on daily earnings, and without work, we have nothing,” she says.

A thick grey haze engulfed the national capital on Tuesday, 19 November, with the average AQI soaring to 488. Delhi's air quality plummeted to the ‘severe-plus’ category on Sunday, 17 November, prompting authorities to impose Stage IV measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) on Monday.

These measures include a ban on construction and demolition activities, restrictions on truck entries except for those carrying essential items or using clean fuel, and the closure of schools. Offices have also been directed to effect changes for their employees.

For Babu Ram, a 63-year-old construction worker, the ban on C&D activities has exacerbated an already dire financial situation. He has a wife, son, daughter-in-law and grandchild to support, besides having to deal with a debt of Rs 3 lakh.

“There’s no pension for people like me. Schemes like Ladli Behna are riddled with corruption, middlemen take everything and we get nothing,” he says. “If I can’t work, my family won’t survive.”

Similarly, Rajesh Kumar, a 42-year-old labourer, says his family in his village in Bihar depends on the money he sends home.

“I have not married yet because I have several responsibilities, including my sister’s wedding, which has left me with a debt of Rs 6 lakh,” he says.

“This happens every year, pollution cripples Delhi, but instead of solving the problem, the government creates more hurdles for people like us," he adds.