Skip to main content

84 fatal accidents, 114 deaths in three years in textile units in Surat, Gujarat: Study supported by German inst

While a lot is known about fatal accidents caused in Gujarat’s premier shipbreaking yard at Alang because of lack of occupational safety, a yet-to-be-published study “Labour Conditions in Surat Textile Industry", supported by Bonn-based Südwind Institute for Economics and Ecumenism, is all set to create a flutter. It has estimated that, in the last three years, 84 fatal accidents have been reported in registered textile processing units in Surat, in which 114 workers died.
Based on a Right to Information (RTI) replies to a query filed in 2016, the data supplied by the Directorate Industrial Safety and Health, Gujarat, further suggest that as many as 375 workers were seriously injured in accidents in these units.
Authored by Jagdish Patel of the People’s Training and Research Centre (PTRC), a Vadodara-based advocacy group focused on occupational health, the study says these data do no provide a complete picture as “a large number of units are not registered.”
A scan through the newspaper clippings by PTRC also suggested that “121 workers died and 126 injured in the textile industry in Surat during 2012-15”, the study says. “Most news of injury at work does not reach the newspapers and people at large” since a large number of units “are not registered”, it adds.
Suggesting that there appears to be little awareness about the need to fight the such high accidents, which have continued over the years, and yet the officialdom has remained indifferent, the study says that during 1991-95 as many as 100 fatal accidents took place in Surat. Then, in 2007 and 2008, the study adds, 46 and 36 accidents respectively were reported in Surat.
“These figures speak of the occupational health and safety situation in the textile factories in Surat”, the study says. An analysis of the reasons behind the accidents by it suggests that between 2012 and 2015, of the 121 fatal accidents, 30 took place because of burns, followed by electrocution (27), and what has been called “crushed between two surfaces” (23).
Other reasons for deaths reported include asphyxiation, fall from height, fire and explosion, mechanical injury, gassed, and so on. Giving the example of how these accidents become fatal because of the very nature of the factories, the study quotes the instance of a power loom unit on Ashvini Kumar Road in Surat located in Suryapur Industrial Estate caught fire on October 3, 2015 at 11:45 am.
During the accident except one worker on the second floor -- Nila Nayaka (45) and a male worker -- Krishna Limja (65) on the third floor, all the others could come out safely. The fire brigade rescued the two, but the woman died of asphyxiation.
The study explains, “The fire started on the second floor and spread to the third floor. Machines had been arranged without leaving much distance between two machines and this congested the walkways. Raw material and finished products were also stored on walkways. There were 20 workers in the unit. Workers on the ground floor could get out but workers on the second and third floors were trapped.”
Pointing out that in most cases those who die or are injured are not adequately compensated, the study quotes the instance of one Ajay Raju Yadav, 18, who met with an accident at work in June 2011. Yadav was employed in an embroidery unit. His left hand got entangled in the nip of the roll of the press machine while charging the machine with ladies dress material. Three of his fingers got amputated and the fourth is almost dead.
“A medical expert assessed his disability to be 47%. He was not compensated. The unit was covered under the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Act but the particular worker was not issued identity card under the Act”, the study says.
It was only after a long drawn out battle, carried out by a textile workers’ association, a local court passed an order in May 2013 to pay Rs.2,88,685 towards compensation with interest at the rate of 9% (Rs 86,605) as penalty, and Rs1,000 as cost of the claim. This made the employer to fire the worker. A hearing on the the case continues till date.

Comments

TRENDING

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.  

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members.  As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.