1 week Ago By Sandip Dighe
Pune: Sunita Jadhav, a farm labourer from Junnar tehsil, has decided not to work during the daytime because of the unbearable heat and has requested farmers to devise a schedule for ‘night shift', an idea they have never explored in the past. "After reaching home one day, I felt extremely weak and completely exhausted as there was no energy left in my body. I visited a local clinic the next morning as I could not recover.
The doctor advised me to rest and drink more water. I rested for a week before resuming work on the farm. Like me, there are several workers who have had a similar experience.
Therefore, we have urged farmers to allow us to work at night," Jadhav told TOI. The rising mercury — the day temperatures increased to 40 degrees C at many places — has taken a toll on the health of farm workers in the last few weeks. Even IMD officials advised not to work in the day.
However, wages for the day are higher than at night, farmers said. "Women work at night for packing onions and other indoor work. They earn between Rs600 and Rs700 per day.
Male labourers mainly water crops at night while they charge Rs800 for working in the day. So it is a tricky situation for farmers to make a different arrangement," Deepak Ukirde, a farmer from Junnar tehsil, said. Farmers in Junnar tehsil take extra precautions at night, especially to ward off any possible attack by leopards.
"We use torches and sometimes we work as a team," said Satish Shinde, a farmer. The forest department has already issued an advisory in this regard for Junnar, Shirur and Ambegaon tehsils. "However, it is impossible to follow this order on the ground because our motor pumps get electric supply at night in some weeks.
Then how will we water our crops? So we have to find our own ways to tackle the issue," Ishwar Gaykar, another farmer from Junnar, said. Agriculture activists and experts said it is the need of the hour to have a proper planning for the summertime. "Farm labour is an unorganised sector, and hardly anyone pays heed to their health and working conditions.
These workers often are small farmers who do not have water sources for their fields," Sachin Holkar, an activist from Nashik, said. Farm workers usually start their work at 10am and end at 5pm. They do a range of work — from removing weeds to planting sugar cane.
Sunita Kale, a farm labourer from Shirur tehsil, said, "Removing weeds from sugar cane fields in this sweltering heat is quite suffocating as there is no air circulation. But we have to work in such conditions. Often we find it difficult to work even for two hours.
Some leave the work in the middle, losing out on wage." From slicing sugar cane to distributing its pieces for plantation, the task is laborious, said Santosh Bidgar, a farmer from Shirur tehsil. "Often male workers do this, yet, they find it difficult.
" Farmer activist Shantaram Sarvade said getting farm hands has become difficult nowadays. "They prefer indoor work like separating maize beans/corn. A few agree for this work.
It has been tough for farmers, especially in the last two years, due to maximum day temperatures in many regions of the state," he added. Meanwhile, IMD officials said the intensity of the heat is expected to rise further in the next few weeks, with the maximum temperature crossing 45 degrees C at many places. "There is no doubt that the farm work will certainly be affected.
In some regions, it is impossible to work in the daytime. We have advised people not to expose themselves to direct heat to prevent fatality," a senior IMD official said. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with EID Wishes , Messages and quotes !.
