People start migrating for work from drought-hit Kurnool district

KURNOOL: In the latest incident after drought started stalking Kurnool district, about 200 people have left Valmikinagar in Kosigi area looking for work in Telangana.

With no gainful employment available, there has been an exodus of people, particularly from western parts of Kurnool district, including Pathikonda, Yemmiganur, Adoni, Alur and Mantralayam. They have been heading to Telangana for working in cotton fields of Adilabad, Karimnagar and Nizamabad districts.

Unskilled workers migrating to Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai is a regular phenomenon in Kurnool district. Ranganna, who lives in Mumbai, says once agricultural operations are over, 50 families from Yemmiganur go to Mumbai for working on fishing docks. People also migrate to Bangalore city for taking up jobs in construction sector. A male worker is paid ₹ 1,500 per day while a female worker gets ₹ 1,000, said Hamapanna, a migrant worker.

Strangely, while natives of Kurnool district go to other places in search of work, Kurnool district also attracts workers from as far as Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. They work in hazardous workplaces like quarries, mines, slab polishing units, cement companies and other unorganised sectors. Three years ago, 20 labourers from Bihar and Jharkhand had died in a blast at a quarry in Hatti Belagal. None of their families have got any compensation even after three years of their death.

When contacted, the District Labour Office said it has no information about guest workers, whether going out or coming into Kurnool district. "We have no idea how many people are employed in quarries or other unorganised units. We maintain data of only factory workers,” an official maintained.

Bethamcherla slab polishing units, apart from quarries in Banaganapalle, Kolimigundla, Alur and Chippagiri employ workers from Bihar and Jharkhand. Recently, a Bihari worker died of electrocution. But his details are not available with the labour department. Similarly, there is no information about another worker who died of electric shock at Banaganapalle two days ago.

An official of District Labour Department, who does not want to be identified, said, "We have instructions from labour commissioner not to inspect quarries or other workplaces. We will do so only when ordered to do so,” he clarified.

He, however, revealed that ease of doing business (EODB) norms exempt them from closely monitoring labour issues.