Vision of Life; by Sanjay: Rains, Real Estate & Accidents!

“After the rain, the sun will reappear.
There is life. After the pain, the joy will still be here.” … Walt Disney.

I am die-hard fan of Disney & its philosophy but on 1^st July & then on 2^nd July 19 too, the rainy mornings bought me back to reality of this world where rains may stop & there will be sun shine again but for many people life won’t be same ever again! Indeed Disney has made lives of millions a bit more livable & make them believe in love, care, duty, courage, togetherness, goodness & many such aspects of life which makes us a human being but sometimes some things happens in such way that you really think lost! This sharing I am writing not as an engineer or a builder or to criticize any system we call govt or to tell how the people involved are right or wrong but this I am writing as a common man in this Smart City Pune & may be as representative of every that person who felt numb, shocked, sad after reading the news in the morning! Yes, it’s about lives lost by collapsing of some compound walls (you may call it retaining wall or boundary walls or anything it doesn’t matter) & though this has been happened all over State, let’s focus on our beloved Pune. As usual when some twenty plus lives has been lost all hail broke loose & first thing that started is how builders, govt as well every that person apart from the people whose lives has been lost is responsible & joke is everyone was trying to pointing a finger at other saying how he or she or his or hers organization isn’t responsible for this loss of lives. For those who may be ignorant about the incidences (read as dead to society) , at two places compound walls collapsed due to heavy rains (well that’s just one reason) & got fallen on the neighboring hutments which were home for labors who are working on the respective sites i.e. buildings by some builders! And as this happened in night time most labors were sleeping & caught unaware & died due to this wall falling on their huts which are made of tin or some plastic or ply wood stuff which was unable to protect them from falling debris of the said walls!

If you have seen the statements as well reactions (and actions too) from all the so called responsible agencies & our “Neta Loag” & if you have a bit better memory left with you then must have felt like reading some old new paper only, such are prototype reactions from everybody. And I wasn’t surprised as this is nearly more than tenth such mishap or accident or disaster whatever you call, I have been reading about in last five years & all tenth time I have seen same copy paste things happening! I must give full mark to entire system (sorry, can’t call it society any more) for such consistent post accident actions or reactions! And not just each other but we (read everybody associated with accident) blame rains, we blame soil, we blame trees, we blame system (that’s easier) & now a days we blame Global Warming or Climate Changes, this last one is best as that’s something nobody understands yet everybody believes it! But problem is nobody blames the actual problem behind these so called accidents & that is nobody is responsible for any such accident; that’s the main problem we are conveniently forgetting. Do mind in any management system when a job is responsibility of all (in totality yes) then nobody is finally responsible for the success or failure of such job! Well, success in any ways all takes claim or credit but failure, we all know it’s an orphan child always! We have conveniently formed a system where no such accident can be put on any particular person or organization, so all are relieved of guilt! If you don’t believe it, read the outcome of this wall mishap in last three days which is head lines of all media(well, they are happy with TRP secretly). Hon Guardian Minister of Pune has formed a Committee of senior officers & Engg college staffer to check the facts of the accident case. Hon Labor Minister has suggested no plans sanction without labor registration. Hon Police Commissioner has suggested forming a committee of senior police officer to check site safety measures (from labor aspect). Hon Labor Commissioner has suggested not to allow tin (GI Sheets) for labor hutments. Hon PMC Senior Officers formed a team to check all labor camps at site & permissions will be revoked if they found in unsafe situation. Hon Labor Union’s Leaders hailed builders & govt & sat for hunger procession for negligence by the builders regarding labor welfare. Oh yes all the families of the diseased labors who died in the mishap will receive Rs 5 lacs each & the dead bodies will be sent to their native place by flight, what an honor & what a gesture, wow I am touched! In the mean time all the projects of the two developers has been stopped & the two firms have been black listed along with their architects & structural consultants! Wonderful actions by every department or system but have you observed, was there one single act of sorry that we are also party to the death of these lives & we will give every bit to stop such deaths, remember reading one single line of such words?

Now coming to the statements of ever above big shot, has they ever build a single building in their life & dealt with labor camp issues? I am not justifying builders & this question is not to support the builders involved in accident but if we consider something as a problem then has any of above govt organization has even needed to arrange for labor’s residence by themselves, is a plain question I want to ask! By the way does this all NOC’s & Committees’ thing applicable only for private builders sites because I will request all sincere officers to visit Metro Rail work’s labor camps or any govt building construction site labor camp also! At the same time these safety norms can be applicable to private construction site labors but what about millions of lives which are living in illegal slums & in very similar types so called homes made of tin & plywood & plastic? Who is going to check their safety & demolish their residences & provide them permanent homes, may I ask as a common man, this question? I live along river side DP road & from my flat’s balcony every day I see thousands of hutments along slopes of Parvati Hills, trust me these thousands of families are living on the edge of disaster which will be way bigger than some compound wall mishap; may I ask who has stopped or restricted all above so called authorities to make some action plan for these people also when they are worrying (read caring) so much for the site labor hutments & Parvati Hill hutments is just tip of iceberg is also I am warning!

I put forward this aspect because when all the govt power can’t make permanent good legal homes for millions of people who are citizen of this city then how you are going to ensure permanent & safe homes at sites for labors which are migrants & even they themselves doesn’t know how much time they will be living in these home? This doesn’t mean the labors shouldn’t have safe homes in first place, this means has we really understand the problem of building such homes at construction sites! At site first the labors stay is periodical depending on their nature of work. The RCC gang stays at longest period while other faculties like tile mason, plumber, etc are for very short time spans like two or three months. At the same time it’s risky to keep the labors near or within work area (read inside building) & when it’s a single stand building space is always a problem. Also we need to take in account maneuvering space as well material stacking places which keeps on changing as the work progresses. In big lay outs or multiple buildings complexes there are open spaces & amenity spaces in lay out where labor camps can be set but & that’s why if you have observed the recent or any such accidents mostly they have happened on single stand alone building where hutments' are allocated along the boundary walls! Now about safe hutment material for labor camps, we can think of prefab material but then this also isn’t useful when some wall or part of building collapses on such hutments' & we can’t build brick/ concrete temporary homes is a fact. Best way is planning of hutments', focus on that aspect. See that the labor camps is properly places at high ground, away from any excavation or boundary wall or natural water body & spacious enough to occupy the labors without they getting cramped in it! We must have proper fire as well electrical safety audit periodically & this we can monitor or make compulsory to monitor & keep record of such audits! We can make a design of standard labor camp with GI Sheets & plywood only & yet we can make it safe, is what as an engineer I want to share. And wherever possible we surely can go for prefab structures also as I am not saying use only GI Sheets things for hutments because it’s not just about safety but in the summers with temperature going above 40 degrees to live in these things is nightmare & someone can die just because of sheer suffocation, why wait for falling a wall on top actually! As with the way things are moving, soon we will have to think what Dubai or Singapore does where no labors are allowed to reside at project sites except a few. The civic body of these cities builds labor camps on the reservation lands outskirts of the city & makes public transport arrangement for commuting & gives these labor camps on lease to the developers or contractors! Why not a single govt person or leader thinks of such option which is safest solution actually! Simple, because then it will become responsibility of the said govt dept or organization & to take responsibility is way difficult than just to make a compulsion for some NOC or registration! Here every gun is targeted at the builder & I am not denying builder’s role yet just because he is earning out of the project but then every govt dept earns too, from the buildings via taxes as well premiums; so how come only the builder is at blame when any such disaster happens at site, just one doubt of a common man’s mind!

And then barring a few exception have we thought for decades, labor camps at sites, was like ghettos (residence of below poverty & underprivileged people in western world with no livable facility). Now suddenly two digit figure of death in labor camps has taken all attention but what were we all doing for so many years, is the question I will like to ask! At the same time it’s not just about safety aspect but its living standards in totality at such camps needs to be looked at. At our sites (sorry giving example of builder me) we pay most attention to toilet facilities of the labors as that’s something horrible creating maximum hygiene problems for them. Also god quality drinking water supply arrangement for the labors is equally important & which usually is neglected! At the same time the focus should be entire safety aspect of every single person working at site & not just labor hutments! Do remember, safety is attitude towards the work & not just some audit or manual restricted thing. Our problem is we (we, means each of us) awakes only when some disaster happens & we do act but in such way that it’s not to avert the future accident but to avert the possible blame or responsibility coming on us, if that future accident happens! No two minds about safety audits & NOC’s & any such formality involved which truly is essential for saving even one life but then it should not be just a face saving formality adding one more burden on the real estate or on any industry! At the same time a labor should not be discriminated as working on private project & govt or public work project & the law should be same for all is simple expectation of a common man!

Just while I was summing up my sharing about site safety & blame game (read mainly on builders) I came across one more news in media about citizens & politicians celebrating for govt’s decision of regularizing illegal constructions in the State! Well, great, if the govt itself has decided to regularize illegal homes by the very same builders then who can say it’s wrong, but if the govt is so keen about lives & taking every possible action for assuring safety of even the site labors, then what about the lives of millions of people residing in all these to be regularized illegal homes? Does govt is really so innocent to believe that all these illegal homes must be wrong on legal front only & are safe enough to live by the workmanship standards! On one side if we are talking of safety audits of labor camps, then will such safety audit not be required to legalize all the illegal homes; here govt seems to be believing the very same builders blindly! Well, just thought of an ignorant or innocent (whatsoever you call it), mind of a common man, which worries for life of an ant also!

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..

https://youtu.be/g3lx1Nq7pBs

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2018/08/pune-city-no-1.html