BALASORE: Forty-year-old Sunaram Singh of Baisinga area is worried about how to feed his six-member family. Sunaram Singh has been rendered jobless after the recent flood damaged the brick kiln where he worked. Woes of brick kiln workers like Sunaram have compounded with no work on their hands. With the kilns submerged in flood water, the workers are now at the mercy of their employers. There are around 1,000 workers in 100 brick kilns in Remuna, Sadar, Baisinga and Betnoti blocks of Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts who have been hit in the recent flood in the Budhabalanga, the Sono and the Gangahar rivers. With no food and other relief materials, these workers are now dependent on whatever help their contractors are providing.“The flood washed away my thatched house and also ` 5,000 that I had saved for my brother’s marriage,” said Sukuri Hansda, who is now residing in a makeshift tent along the NH 5. She said the kiln where she had been working is in a low-lying area and gushing water washed away all her belongings. The brick kiln workers earn ` 150 to 200 daily. They are paid ` 400 for preparing 1,000 bricks. The kiln owners also estimate that properties worth more than ` 10 crore have been damaged in the flood. BK Das, an owner, said though insured, there is no such facility for the workers at the kilns. “We are providing them their daily requirements including food. But there is no work for them now,” he said.
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