Chennai, May 18 (IANS): With the district collectors of Kanchipuram, Tiruvalluvar, Tiruvannamalai, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Ranipet and Vellore districts ordering the closure of quarries, the construction industry has taken a serious hit. More than the local construction work including housing, projects which have deadlines like the Chennai Metro are affected by this decision.

A source in the Chennai Metro told IANS on condition of anonymity, "Our work is hit, there are no materials available. We need blue metal and M-sand for the construction. The second wave of the pandemic has led to the closure of quarries leading to a dearth of materials required for our construction. There will be an impact in meeting the deadlines."

Chennai Metro has awarded contracts for Corridor 3 and Corridor 4.

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) however said that their projects are not affected at present but soon may face problems as the stock of materials is dwindling. E-passes for inter district transport are a major worry for the construction industry as materials are transported from far away places crossing districts.

The Builders Association of India said that the effect of the closure of quarries will be felt in a couple of days at several sites. S Rama Prabhu, state secretary of the association while speaking to IANS said, "Non availability of raw materials is affecting the construction and only 25 percent of the work is being carried out in many sites and this may be further reduced to 15 percent as work will be carried out only with the available raw materials."

However the construction industry agrees that a bigger worry are the fleeing migrant workers. A large number of the migrant workers from Odisha, West Bengal, Rajasthan have left for their home states and those staying back in Tamil Nadu are in two minds on whether to stay back or be with their near and dear ones in their home states.

Aminul Sharaf, a construction worker with a prominent builder at Salem, told IANS, "My owner is good and has provided us with all the facilities. Most of our friends in other places have left for their homes and I too feel that I should head back home as there is uncertainty. I don't know whether there is a tougher lockdown coming and we are again stranded in this place with all our close relatives back home in Midnapore."

With most of the states not having a clear and proper registry of the migrant workers, the volume of workers who have left for their home state is not clear.

Muthumani, a contractor and quarry owner in Chengalpattu while speaking to IANS said, "Situation is grim, I was supplying materials for a contractor engaged in the construction of phase 3 of Chennai Metro. The quarries are shut down and so is the labour. The workers are leaving in large numbers. They are fearing something and the best of our efforts to retain them are not fructifying. We are keeping our fingers crossed. Hope the disease takes a back seat and things become normal, then only we can say anything concrete about the industry."