climate change, the farmer- worker class in the country is condemned to suffer. He says working for
long hours in the grueling heat without water and nutrition ultimately forces them to migrate to far off cities where they meet a worse fate.
An important aspect of climate change that clearly affects many Asian and African countries more is that a large part of their working population toil in open spaces. In India where over two-thirds of the population is rural and a significant section of its rural and urban workforce like farmers and construction workers work in harsh summer, there are adverse impacts of rising temperatures and heat wave on the health of the workers and farmers.
The 2015 summer in India and neighbouring Pakistan was so intense that nearly 2500 people died in India and 1100 in Pakistan. Deeply worrying as these statistics are, those familiar with actual work conditions believe that the figures could be even more.
On a scorching afternoon, I travelled in Bundelkhand region of Central India, talking to workers toiling at rural employment guarantee scheme sites. Some appeared too weak to work in the heat and were almost on the verge of collapse. Yet, in similar conditions, when I travelled to Ajmer district of Rajasthan, which is closer to the desert, the employment scheme workers were coping much better. The reason being they had negotiated their working hours with their bosses. The workers start work early in morning and leave by noon when the sun is overhead. They return to the sites in the evening to complete the pending work.
Over centuries villagers have devised ways of coping with the scorching summer heat. Farmers who cultivate their own land are able to do so more effectively as they can choose their working hours unlike the landless farm workers, who have to perforce follow their employer’s dictates. They are the most vulnerable as they do not have access to even clean and cool drinking water.
Working in intense heat for long hours without water and nutrition can lead to dehydration and weakness. Lakhs of workers are resigned to this fate. With climate change and the summers getting hotter, even farmers who are landowners, are unable to work for longer hours. It affects their productivity and subsequently income and they are forced to migrate for alternate source of income.
In cities they usually end up as construction workers. In Delhi, many live in resettlement colonies and hut hamlets in the city’s outskirts. During a recent visit, they were seen reeling under increasing heat, reduced employment and poor living conditions.
Jairam, a migrant from Bundelkhand said, “Growing heat is no doubt a serious problem but if we have stable income then we can at least eat healthy, but in times of low employment and income, nutrition levels also go down.”
Subhash Bhatnagar, a senior social activist who has struggled for decades and fought long legal cases in the Supreme Court of India as well for better rights and social security of construction workers, says, “In time to come, climate change is going to increase problems of construction workers. We need better facilities for them like shade to rest, drinking water, child-care and most important overall social security.
Jairam adds, “earlier we lived in the city, closer to where we could find work. If we were unwell we could come home to rest for a few hours. Now after slum demolition we have been re- located so far away that this is no longer possible.”
For women, who are employed as domestic help, the challenges are even more. Kamla Devi says, “In addition to the heat, commuting long distances using crowded public transport every day can be extremely stressful. After toiling in several households, we have to come home and cook for our family and also do our housework. We don’t even get a good night`s sleep in a hot, congested, poorly ventilated room.”