Workers on the Manali-Kullu national highway have been working tirelessly to clear the roads that have been damaged due to heavy rain and subsequent landslides. Earlier this week, a video emerged that showed a JCB machine and a group of workers being hit by falling debris of loose rocks. Even though the machine was hit by the shooting rocks, the driver managed to quickly get off and no one was injured by the shooting rocks. Soumya Sambasivan, Superintendent of Police, Mandi, later told ANI the JCB driver had received minor scratches and was safe. “The restoration work is underway. The road will be soon opened for use,” Sambasivan added. This video of the JCB being hit with debris is being widely circulated online. On Tuesday, Indian Forest Service officer Parveen Kaswan reshared this clip and referred to the workers as ‘Heroes without capes’. Even as many people praised the workers for continuing the rebuilding work in dire circumstances, others pointed out that just heaping praises on overworked and underpaid employees is a myopic and unproductive exercise. Instead, people should be, asking for better working conditions with apt safety measures, they said. Echoing this view, a Twitter user wrote, “When will we stop call our workers HEROs and provide them required safety, insurance, better wages, better facilities like normal GOVT servants. Most of these workers are contract workers - who risk their life for simple livelihood and provide better education and food to kids.” Another person wrote, “Calling them heroes is not helpful, calling out the lack of safety protocols is better”.
