The lull in the real estate coupled with an acute scarcity of sand has had a direct impact on the construction industry in the entire region. Juxtapose this with the steep escalation of construction cost forcing potential end-users to postpone their decision on building a house resulting in muted demand; and as a result it is the daily wagers in the sector who have been left in the lurch.
Though the onset of monsoon has helped some of them get jobs in the agriculture sector, the bulk of construction workers have been rendered underemployed or unemployed due to the lull in civic works and building activities.
Members of the Construction Workers’ Federation of India of Mysuru said that cement apart, the cost of steel and paints had skyrocketed in recent years adding to a depression in the market.
“The State government is directly responsible for the current scenario as it has failed to ensure sand supply in the market apart from its inability to crackdown on the sand mafia”, according to the federation members who recently staged a demonstration in the city. Construction industry is fuelled by the daily wagers from Nanjangud and Chamarajanagar region. But not all of them find work these days unlike in the past when there would be labour contractors waiting to pick them up at the Chamarajapuram Railway Station at Kuvempunagar and on the 100 ft road.
Puttamadhu of the Karnataka Agricultural Workers’ Federation said, “Nearly 50 to 60 families in Malavalli and surrounding regions have migrated to Bengaluru in search of work in the last one month.”
The impact is more in the rural areas where local contractors do not have access to M-Sand or know how to use it. Though canal repair works and construction of toilets were supposed to generate employment, sand scarcity has led to slowdown affecting employment generation.
