India: Keralan landslide kills over 50 tea workers, exposing dangerous living & working conditions on tea estates
Автор: The News Minute, Опубликовано: 12 August 2020
"'Modern-day bonded labour': The inhuman work conditions of TN tea estate workers", 13 August 2020
...A recent landslide in Kerala has thrown light on the living condition of tea estate workers in the state. A massive landslide trapped over 70 people in Pettimudi of Munnar in Idukki district. As of August 11, the death toll in the Munnar landslide stands at 52. The workers, most of whom were said to be from Tamil Nadu, were living in ‘layams’ — cramped single-room quarters, all stuck to each other, thereby causing severe damage.
The living condition is no different for workers in the Western Ghats region in adjoining Tamil Nadu. The tea estate labourers say that they work for long hours, toiling under rain and sun, to earn a meagre living. The labourers who are mainly women also complain of many health issues as they have to carry huge loads of tea leaves in a basket on their back, by tying it to their stomachs...
In the monsoon, life gets even more difficult. "Leeches fall on our heads and start sucking our blood but we are still not allowed to take a break or given a leave. Even if an employee faints, they need to get back to work after regaining consciousness. They will not even be lenient for a few minutes," she added.
...The workers say that the mishaps continue but the government only provides them temporary compensation and most of them are forced to continue their lives in the same estates.