A squad of the health wing of the city Corporation, which carried out surprise checks at camps in which migrant workers are residing in, found that many of the facilities were overcrowded and maintained in an unhygienic manner by the owners.
The checks, which began at 7 a.m and went on till noon, were carried out in camps in Medical College, Ulloor, Akkulam, Kumarapuram and Kannammoola, as part of steps to ensure that migrant workers are being provided satisfactory living conditions.
The health wing had got complaints that some of the camps are being run in unhygienic conditions. In some of the camps, around 30-40 migrant workers were found to be living packed inside rooms, even though there was space only for around 10 people. In many of the camps, only one toilet was provided, with poor sanitary conditions. Waste water was seen collected in pits near the dwelling areas. At one of the camps, the workers told the Corporation officials that the owner collects ₹1,000 from each of the 30 people residing there.
At a camp in the Uloor-Akkulam road, drainage waste was seen collected near the dwelling area with the officials also noticing foul smell and breeding of insects. Though Rathan, one of the Assam-natives living here had complained to the owner regarding the waste water, no action was taken. A plastic sheet was used to prevent leakages during rains through the broken tiled roof of the camp.
The officials called Somasekharan Nair, the owner of the building, to the spot and asked him to shift the workers to another building within 24 hours, and carry out maintenance work and cleaning in the premises, failing which the Corporation would shift the workers to another facility and take action against him under the Kerala Municipality Act.
A report will be submitted for follow-up action regarding the facilities which were found to be maintained in unsatisfactory conditions, said Health Inspector S.S.Minu.
Junior Health Inspector Mohammed Navas carried out awareness campaign among the workers to segregate plastic waste and hand it over to the Corporation's collectors.
