Workers labour to renovate Delhi's famous Connaught place
for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, in New Delhi, India,
Thursday, March 4, 2010. Photo by AP.
A court-appointed panel says at least 43 workers have
been killed building venues for the upcoming Commonwealth Games
in New Delhi because of dangerous work sites and a lack of
proper safety gear.
India's games organising committee stepped up the pace of
work at the venues for athletics, swimming, weightlifting and
some other events after Commonwealth Games officials said the
slow pace of construction and repeatedly missed deadlines
threatened the event.
The Commonwealth Games is scheduled to be held from October
3-14 and feature 71 nations and territories of the old
British Empire.
The monitoring panel filed a report to the New Delhi High
Court on Wednesday saying nearly 415,000 contract workers at
construction sites related to the event were not being paid
adequately by private contractors and were forced to work
overtime for no extra money.
Conditions at the construction sites were poor and many
accidents went unreported, while workers continued to work
without proper safety gear, the report said. The court
appointed the committee in January in response to allegations
that the workers were living in crowded hovels with no
protection from the winter elements, no electricity and
filthy toilets.
The report recommended the workers be given proper wages,
days off and hygienic living conditions. It also suggested
strong monitoring at the work sites to ensure no contractor
or employer breached labor laws. Indian organizing committee
officials did not immediately respond to the report.
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