No choice, work in dire straits

The River Yamuna has submerged the hopeless tin dwellings that innumerable workers had been managing with near the Games village in mid-August. Jatin Anand reports.

The River Yamuna has submerged the hopeless tin dwellings that innumerable workers had been managing with near the Games village in mid-August.

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"We had hurriedly evacuated the tin shelter where we lived when the water started rising around midnight on August 20," recalled 18-year-old Hariya, who hails from Barabanki district in Uttar Pradesh.

Working 12 to 16 hours a day, Hariya and his 16-year-old old brother Shankar had been performing odd jobs at the Games Village since early April. "There’s not much money as I thought. We came to Delhi thinking we will work for whoever pays us more. But once we got engaged at this place — we have been told to stay till the work gets completed," he said.

Several workers, who are still engaged at the Games Village and around it, put up in half-submerged tin sheds. "There are mosquitoes all around and our manager says that it’s just a matter of a few more days," said Hariya.