Unsafe brick factories
2016-12-31 13:58:52.0
(By Pritam Bhattarai)
2016-12-31 13:58:52.0
(By Pritam Bhattarai)
Kathmandu: Around three weeks ago, 18-months old girl named
Urmila Tamang drowned in a pit dug while making bricks for a brick factory at
Sunapa in Bhaktapur. The incident took place in the area leased by the owner of
the brick factory for which Tamang's parents are working as brick-maker.
This is not a single incident occurred due to the negligence of
both the parents and the brick factory owner. According to police data, the
total 17 children drowned in such ditches dug for making bricks on the premises
of brick industries in Bhaktapur in the past three years alone (six in 2070 BS,
five in 2071 BS and six in 2072 BS).
Repeated incident of this
nature exposes utter negligence on the part of law enforcers and concerned
authorities. Each brick industry digs at least 20 pits up to 20 meters deep to
store water for making bricks. However, many such dug ditches are unsafe and
remain open without fencing, risking incidents of drowning. There are around
800 registered brick factories across the country, many of them are located in
Bhaktapur, according to the Federation of Nepal Brick Industries.
The worst side of such incident is neither police case has been
filed in above incidents of death nor kin of the victims have got a decent
compensation. Many kin of the victims are uneducated and not even aware of
filing a police case. It means that such cases are settled between family of
victim and brick owner responsible for such case. In most such cases, the kin
of victim do not get a decent compensation.
In case of Urmila, her family members are not even aware of
filing a police case. Mandip Tamang, father of Urmila, said he does not know
when he would get compensation. "My brick factory owner has promised to
provide compensation. But I do not know when." However, Deputy
Superintendent of Police Mitra Bandhu Sharma, who looked into the case of
Urmila, said there is no any legal provision to register a police case in the
case of Urmila as this is not a murder case.
He said cases of this
nature are settled mutually between the family of victim and the other party.
But Mona Ansari, spokesperson for the National Human Rights Commission, said
one can file a police case in cases of such nature as the law has clearly
restricted the practice of child labour. She said brick factory owners who have
dug pits in the premises of brick factories should make such ditches safe with
fencing or any other means. In an incident of such nature four years ago, a
seven year-old boy drowned in a pit dug in the premises of a brick factory at
Tathari in Nagarkot. Family of the deceased did not take the body initially,
demanding legal action against the guilty. But later police intervened and the
case was settled without filing a police case. Steps such as a regular
monitoring to ensure safety of such ditches in the premises of brick factories,
asking brick factory owner to guard such pits with fencing, making aware
parents and not allowing children on the premises of brick factories must be
taken to avert such incidents. Besides, as Sharma suggests, insuring labourers
working at brick factories could be another option.
But to make the matter worse, almost all labourers working at
brick industries not only in Bhaktapur, but across the country are yet to be
insured. Suresh Prajapati, programme director of Mingergy, a NGO working for
the welfare of labourers at brick factories, said except for one case or two,
all labourers working at brick industries, to my knowledge, are not insured. He
said insurance policy will help brick-makers get compensated in case of death
or other accident once they are insured at least under accidental insurance.
However, the Ministry of Labour and Employment pays ignorance about the idea.
Gobinda Bhurtel, spokesperson for the ministry, said he does not know about the
matter. RSS
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