Cool water, chilled drinks bring relief to Mumba S naka workers

With summer temperatures at record highs in the city and suburbs, the itinerant workers who gather at road junctions, or nakas, are among those most vulnerable to the intense heat and light during the day

- MANOJ RAMAKRISHNAN

There are hundreds of spots in the city where the workers gather in the morning to be picked up by labour contractors and taken to construction sites. Some locations, like the one near Khar railway station, attract over 3,000 workers daily, according to social workers. There are similar pickup places at Bandra, Malwani, Vikhroli, Borivali, Gol Deval, and Mumbai Central. Those who are not picked up in the first lots spend hours in the sun without shade or clean drinking water.

A group of social workers and workers' associations are trying to ameliorate the conditions for some of these workers, most of whom are migrants from outside the city. In the last week, social workers have been distributing Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS), coconut water and other replenishing drinks to the workers.