Real estate activity came to a standstill on Thursday as stakeholders participated in a hunger strike in Chennai, demanding public policy initiatives to mitigate the problems faced by the sector, including promoting distribution of sand and reducing registration charges.
Protesters claimed that 10 lakh construction workers had lost their jobs and projects worth ₹10,000 crore had been affected.
‘No action taken’
CREDAI Chennai president Suresh Krishn said the State government had not taken action to improve the distribution of sand. “More than 10 million square feet of construction work has been stalled. A lot of investment in the region has also been impacted which has brought tremendous losses to the developers,” he said.
Urging the government to initiate steps to increase the supply of sand, he said: “We have gathered here to condemn the current state of affairs in the sector.”
Builders Association of India trustee and Southern Builders Charitable Trust Chairman R. Radhakrishnan said the supply of sand had reduced from 40,000 loads to 4,000 loads. “All construction activity in infrastructure projects of the Central and State government has stopped. The Chennai Corporation’s stormwater drain work has also stopped. This will affect the delivery of services to the common man,” he said.
“When we met the Chief Minister on May 17, he assured us than more quarries would be opened in 15 days. But nothing has happened. Previously, officials had benefited from the private operation of quarries. Now, the government is running them. But the same officials are reluctant to sell sand, creating scarcity,” said Builders Association of India president (southern centre) K. Venkatesan.
Nearly 200 members of CREDAI took part in the hunger strike. Other associations which took part include the Builders Association of India, Flat Promoters Association, Civil Engineers Association, Real Estate Association, Tamil Nadu Sand Lorry Owners Federation, Tamil Nadu Construction Workers Association, Tamil Nadu All Flat Promoters Federation, Tamil Nadu Government All Contractors (PWD, Highways, Corporation, EB, CMMWSSB, and Housing Board), Central Government Contractors, (Railway, CPWD), Tamil Nadu Ready Mix Concrete Federation, and Quarry Owners Association.
“The registration charge in Tamil Nadu is the highest in the country. This has affected the construction industry. This will affect growth and development,” said a protester.
