MAPPING CONSTRUCTION SITES
I’ve seen my problem for quite a while. Construction sites all around the country have strewn their material on roads. For years, this has been happening. Earlier, safety rules were more strictly imposed, but in the past decade, they’ve become more lax. During the British era in India, some of the British rules were imposed, like hazardous warnings and safety equipment. However, in current day, these are given barely any consideration. It’s very visible in the conditions of the labourers, the discomfort of the people around the site and the hindrance caused by the materials. Children run amok amongst heavy machinery, labourers live in little shacks with no protection and there is no sign of safety measures like helmets except in very few. It has become an acceptable thing now and contractors do not pay attention to basic human satisfactions.
I’m no Apollo, but I can attempt to predict the future a little. This can go two ways: either awareness is spread, people are convinced and the problem is solved slowly but surely. Or, the government and people involved will give a polite nod to our efforts and not do anything. I’m currently listening to the lazy drawl of Red Hot Chili Peppers and pondering this prediction. What do you think will happen? Supposing we got word to the right people and we got the right support, we could talk people and make them realise that this isn’t as small as they think it is. Hopefully we’ll be able to bring back safety regulations and impose them with checks to make sure they’re being followed. Hopefully the small children we see will receive better attention and care.
For the people living near a construction site, they’re obviously affected by the noise, the dust and the hampering of their movements. People who work near that area, or pass through may also be affected for the same reasons, except on a lower level. Plants near the site are also affected, because they may be mown down or coated in thick dust. (I always felt sympathetic and sorry for plants in medians because they looked so forlorn covered in traffic exhaust.) When the block of apartments behind my house was constructed, they – horror of horrors – cut away branches of a mango tree to make space for the scaffolding. I myself am affected as a person who lives between two construction sites. Then there are also the manual workers who live in bad conditions and have to work in dangerous ones.
In large cities like Tokyo and New York, you can’t afford to have material crowding an already-busy street. So construction sites have a materials supervisor, who appoints a certain amount of material for a day so there is no excess to be left on the roads. It’s a simple solution, and it works. They also have strict safety regulations, and unauthorised children are not allowed on site.
This is what I hope to achieve.
Questions for experts:
1) Have you experienced this problem?
2) Do you know any solution to this existed earlier? If so, why do you think it’s not used anymore now?
3) How would you describe the problem now? Do you think it’s serious enough to convince people?
4) What creative solution would you offer?
5) Have you seen something similar to this in other countries?
6) What do you think could happen in the future, using your ideas and others’?
