Architects and engineers have appealed to Kerala government to allow them to open offices with minimum strength so that the construction industry is able to achieve a semblance of normality amid COVID-19 lockdown triggering serious disruptions and losses.
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Building industry sources said that an entire array of experts, engineers, consultants, skilled and unskilled workers, material suppliers and supervisors, were needed for some projects to be on course. However, the COVID-19 lockdown and other restrictions had seen the number of workers being reduced considerably, bringing most of the projects to a standstill.
Chairman of Indian Institute of Architects L. Gopakumar said that there were restrictions being imposed on architects and engineers in many places even though the construction industry was allowed to carry on with its activities amid the lockdown restrictions. The architects and engineers were an integral part of the building industry and without them the projects would get stuck, he said.
The industry itself is was in a bad shape with a shortage of workers, both skilled and unskilled, even as raw material supplies had dried up, the forum said. The cost of inputs like cement and steel had created mayhem.
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Building industry sources said that the price of cement had gone past ₹500 per 50 kg bag while steel price ruled between ₹68 and ₹72. They also said that since the lockdown restrictions began, the price of cement had gone up by around ₹90, rapidly rising from ₹420 to ₹480 and then ₹500.
The builders would meet the government on Tuesday to discuss the situation, sources added. They also pointed out that material supplies had shrunk considerably on COVID-19 fears as many unloading workers were afraid to handle supplies from other States.