Delhi: Jan Sunwai discusses impact of heat on workers in summers

A Jan Sunwai discussed the impact of heat stress on workers, highlighting challenges faced during summer and proposing measures for better protections.

A Jan Sunwai titled “Heat Stress and Impact on Workers” was organised on Tuesday to discuss the impact of summer and heatwave on construction and delivery workers. The talk was held by the Rachnatmak Congress at the Constitution Club of India.

The discussion witnessed participation from different stakeholders, including workers, civil society members, scholars, labour unions.

The discussion witnessed participation from different stakeholders, including workers, civil society members, scholars, labour unions like National Hawkers Federation and All India Kabadi Majdoor Mahasangh, and policy makers, including Members of Parliament Selja Kumari and Priyanka Chaturvedi, alongside Yogendra Yadav of Swaraj India and Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Anish Gawande. The discussion spanned the varied challenges faced by workers across sectors—construction, factories, delivery services, sanitation, and street vending—highlighting how the distinct nature of each job creates unique hardships during peak summer.

Recalling a day during last year’s peak summer, construction worker Hambeer Kohli said he collapsed at the site due to extreme heat and dehydration. “We work not just in the heat, but during the harshest hours of direct sunlight,” Kohli said, adding that the lack of rest areas and proper drinking water has led to several co-workers collapsing on site, and that last year prolonged hours under the sun took a serious toll on their health.

For 32-year-old Manish Singh, a platform-based delivery worker, summers and heatwaves are especially harsh due to the lack of a fixed workplace, absence of rest areas or shade at dark stores, and limited access to drinking water, while repeated long-distance deliveries on a heat-radiating bike further intensify his stress during peak summer.

Similarly, Sheikh Akbar Ali of the Basti Suraksha Manch highlighted the gradual decrease in the number of labour chowks across Delhi, noting that the loss of shared access to water and basic amenities such as washrooms and rest areas has further worsened workers’ hardships.

The demand charter prepared by Rachnamatak Congress, includes various suggestions, such as notification of heatwaves as a national disaster, statutory adoption of a heat index that factors in both temperature and humidity, recognition of the “right to cool” as a public utility, and compensation for income loss due to heat stress. The charter will be submitted to key union ministries, including Labour and Employment, Home Affairs, Health and Family Welfare, and Housing and Urban Affairs.