“Many workers have already left. While the company brings in new workers on daily-wage basis, the old ones are all leaving one by one,” one of the sub contractors said.

There are 36 subcontractors working on the 36 towers at the site. “Most workers work seven days a week without a break or monetary compensation. They are not given basic safety equipment except a helmet, and neither are they issued identity cards or pay slips. Many are not even registered with the monitoring agency — which means they cannot avail of any health insurance or other benefits,” the sub contractor said.

Ahluwalia Contracts, the civil contractor for the project, admits it has not been receiving full payments from Emaar MGF for the last five to six months, and that it managed to pay workers till January using its own funds.

Emaar MGF, however, has denied it owes money to Ahluwalia Contracts. A company spokes-person told Newsline through email that payments were being made “on a continuous basis.” “As and when bills are raised, payments are being processed,” the email states.