Study of construction workers’ accommodations in Mumbai metropolitan region of India
- Vol.86(6), June
- Mumbai Indian Institute of Architects 2021
- 23-34p.
Construction workers (CW) in India are usually from the ru- ral poor or families who migrate to urban pockets of the country in expectation of better earning opportunities. Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) is one of the fastest developing areas in India and absorbs a considerable amount of labour workforce on construction and interior projects. Although the BOCW Act 1996, entitles CW with the facility of free accommodations from employers, it fails to consid- er the accommodation requirements for un-employed and self–em- ployed workers, who end up living in slums. The quality of employ- er provided accommodations too are found to be pitiful and below habitable standards. This research sheds light on the issues related to the CWs accommodations in MMR. Firstly, through evaluation of different types of labour accommodations, on the basis of parame- ters for Safe and Healthy Environments, the paper highlights the fact that the most commonly used labour accommodation types in MMR do not satisfy the parameters. Based on further investigations and analysis, the paper infers that the reasons leading to accommodation issues are absence of standards and guidelines, cost cutting from employers, lack of resistance from the workers and absence of alter- native solutions, and concludes with recommendations for bringing positive change in the labour accommodation system.