Beyond the airconditioning and soundproof windows shutting out the din of the crucial sewer replacement project along Pedder Road is an uneasy reality: around seven children aged between 13 and 17 have been working alongside other labourers, digging trenches, carrying mud and helping construct manholes.

Though the Child Labour Regulation and Prohibition Act (1986) prohibits children aged below 14 from being employed in any kind of work, Sections 23 and 26 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act 2000, adopted by the Maharashtra government and covers children till the age of 18 years, prohibits the “loss of childhood” owing to such employment. While it is not possible to ascertain beyond doubt the age of the children working along Pedder Road for the past four days owing to absence of any paperwork with them or the contractor, all the boys Newsline spoke to admitted they are in their teens. Many had left their native towns in search of work.

Mohammed Arif is just 13. He had come to Mumbai from his village near Calcutta a month ago, he says, in search of work. “I came recently to the city and got this job immediately after I met the others.”

Brothers Sameer and Nayan Seth are also from Calcutta, both below 18 years of age. “We have been working in Mumbai for the last one-and-a-half years. There are no employment opportunities back home and we found jobs as labourers here. Our family has recently shifted here and we earn some money,” says Sameer.

... contd.