The family of Sahadeb Mondal, who died on his return from Mumbai. Picture by Aranya Sen

Ranjaybar, Jan. 3: Dreams of earning money in Mumbai came crashing in this remote village in Howrah after a team of 29 returned home sick and accompanied by a dead mate in December.

The farm labourers had little to do in their village in winter and, when a contractor unfurled the allure of Mumbai — where the money was more than double for half the effort — the choice was obvious.

The reality at a Navi Mumbai construction site was painful — the money did not flow. “Nor did safe drinking water. We were treated as bonded labourers. When most of us took ill, we were not given any medical assistance,” said Swapan Chakraborty.

In the first week of December, Swapan and his mates — aged between 25 and 55 — returned home with typhoid and severe stomach infection. Bansidhar Dalui, 55, died on the way. Sahadeb Mondal, 42, passed away in a nursing home.

The others hospitalised have now been released but the nightmare returns to haunt the residents of Ranjaybar, Kundulia and Bidhichandrapur — some 80 km from Calcutta — every now and then.

Poverty is a constant but they have sworn not to venture out of Bengal in search of livelihood again. “What we have seen over the past month has taught us a lesson,” said Nityananda Dalui’s wife Sandhya.

“My sons were forced to leave school because I had no money... my daughter is young. I don’t know what lies ahead,” said Rina, Sahadeb’s widow.

Bansidhar’s family also has uncertainty staring in the face. His widow, four children and octogenarian mother Parulbala are cursing themselves for letting him go to Mumbai.

“Keno je oke jete dilam (why did I let him go)?” cried Parulbala, sitting at the entrance to the mud house that her son had built a few years ago.

Bansidhar had no choice before him. The floods had destroyed the crops and the government’s food-for-work scheme had not made it to his area.

“Normally, we get work around this time, but there was none this year. We had to look for options,” said Swapan.

So, when labour contractor Swapan Mondal offered them two months’ employment for a daily wage of Rs 120 and three meals, it was celebration time.

“We thought we would save around Rs 5,000 in two months.... That’s a lot of money,” said Nityananda.

In their village, they get Rs 50 for a day’s work. In Mumbai, Mondal’s men allegedly beat up some of them when they asked him to clear their dues.

“I managed to send a message home and our villagers got in touch with some of our boys working in the jewellery industry there. They gave us our train fare,” said Swapan.

They did not go to police — neither in Mumbai nor Calcutta. “There’s no justice for the poor,” said most of them.

Pulin Behari Ghosh, the chief of the local Binola Krishnabati panchayat, admitted that the villagers have no means of earning a living since the floods and that poverty alleviation schemes have not been implemented. “We will do so soon,” he mumbled.