India, Feb. 22 -- Soon after their marriage 16 years ago, Nandu Ram Ahirwar and his wife Ganeshi Ahirwar left Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh and came to Delhi for a better livelihood for their children. Despite earning just Rs.600 per day and living in labourer camps at building construction sites in Narela, the couple admitted their three children - a son and two daughters aged 15, 9 and 6 - to a nearby government school and ensured they did not lead the life of labourers.

However, the family's dreams where shattered on Friday when Ahirwar died along with his 37-year-old co-worker, Vijay Mochi, of asphyxiation after being allegedly made to descend into a sewer at a DDA multi-storeyed housing complex constructed by a private construction co...