Migrant workers hit hard by CRDA construction banam

• With CRDA imposing zonal regulations, construction works slows down and affects the livelihood of 5 lakh migrant workers
• A swanky Trend set mall on one end of the Benz Circle, and thousands of poor workers on the other end, presents a picture of contrast
• CPM leader Ch Baburao predicts worst-ever housing crisis and builders workers union head doesn’t rule out bleak future for workers

Vijayawada: Faced with acute drought and deprivation, Banam Santosh Kumar from Srikakulam district in north coastal Andhra migrated to the Capital city in search of work opportunities a year ago. But, all his hopes came crashing down when the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) introduced zonal regulations in the Capital region, restricting construction activity for over three decades. Prompting Ch Baburao, CPI(M)’s Capital Coordination committee convenor, to predict a worst-ever housing crisis in the near future.

Meanwhile, Santosh stays in a house in Pakeerugudem, which is rented at Rs 2,500 per month. Also, there happens to be an upward yearly revision of rent by Rs 500. He earns Rs 400-500 per day but he can only find work for 3 to 4 days in a week and is unable to meet both ends with what his meagre earnings. ‘I thought things would get better in proposed capital city. But, shockingly, our situation only changed from bad to worse. On an average, I find work only for three days in a week’, he bemoaned.

He said he had to borrow Rs 10,000 last month at a very high interest rate, as he could not find work on most of the days. Santosh is one among five lakh other construction workers in Krishna and Guntur districts who are going through similar trauma. The Capital spelt doom for the construction workers as they are finding it increasingly difficult to get work after the city assumed capital status. According to the master plan for capital, 63% of the area in the 56 mandals of the Capital region comes under Agriculture Protection Zone.

The government denies permission for any sort of construction activity in this zone until 2050 which resulted in a lull in the construction activity. The 35,000-odd construction workers in the city feel the pinch of this spillover effect as scores of workers keep migrating from areas surrounding the city for work. Benz circle, Satyanarayana Puram, Vijaya Talkies, Chittinagar are the four major centers in the city where the workers gather daily in the morning and wait to get some work.

The swanky Trend set mall on one end of the Benz circle, which epitomizes city’s prosperity, and a gathering of around 1,000 unkempt construction workers on the other end, presents a picture of contrast. The workers come down daily from very far-off places like Kankipadu, Pamarru and Hanuman Junction in search of work. Some of them even come from Warangal and Prakasam districts, to work in the city for 15-20 days in a month, and then go back to their respective hometowns.

Speaking on the issue, Pilli Narasimha Rao, A P Building Workers Union president, said that Capital does not seem to hold out any hope for the workers. ‘The government is engaging foreign companies for execution of major construction projects in the capital, leaving the local workforce in the lurch. These companies tend to hire workers from Orissa and Bihar, reducing the chances of our workers.’ The plight of the workers is an off-shoot of realty slump, caused by the CRDA’s restrictions on building activity.

According to rough estimates, over 200 ventures developed by realtors worth over Rs 2,000 crore, remained unoccupied for over a year for want of occupancy certificates from the CRDA. A spokesman from CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India) on condition of anonymity said the construction activity came to a grinding halt in more than 1,500 acres in the capital region, covering Krishna and Guntur districts, in view of the restrictions. The realtors from the Capital region staged a protest at the CRDA office recently, denouncing the restrictions.