Singur, Aug. 26: The Tata Motors plant hummed back to life after two days of near silence.

“Nearly 85 per cent of the staff turned up today,” said one employee coming out of the paint shop. “Some couldn’t come as the buses carrying them left late last evening to avoid the dharna crowd and the workers reached home even later,” he said.

“The staff strength is not enough to rush to the deadline but it’s nice that at least people have turned up. While yesterday only 10 per cent of the contract labourers came, today it was more than 25 per cent,” a labour contractor said.

“Some turned up as they didn’t want to miss out on the Rs 120-a-day wage,” he said.

“After learning that no one is being stopped from entering (the plant), they took a chance…. I hope the numbers increase.”

The screeching machinery and the trundling cranes were testimony that the day was busier at the Nano plant than yesterday, when attendance was “bare minimum”.

Between carrying equipment inside the plant, some labourers had gathered behind a giant machine part to catch their breath.

Some Tata employees sat in a balcony near the engine shop. Others ran to the crowded cycle stands for a quick lunch bite.

A Tata Motors representative said the overall attendance had touched 45 to 50 per cent.

The engine shop, insiders said, had seen a turnout 12 to 14 per cent higher than yesterday.

Reports from other shops — the transmission line, the fuel storage centre — said contract workers, too, were present in greater numbers.

Also, many workers who were getting the effluent treatment plant ready and labouring at the training centre yesterday came to work at the main plant today. “Unless the effluent treatment plant is in place, you can’t run the factory,” an engineer said, lamenting the loss of hours vital for the car’s October rollout plan.

At one of the security posts inside the plant, guard Sandip Yadav wanted to know: “Yeh kitna din aur chalega (How long will the dharna go on)?”

But he did not have too much time to dwell on the question. The brisk attendance meant more work.

As a stream of workers wearing helmets rode past on bicycles, Yadav had to start checking their entry passes.

The question on Yadav’s mind seemed to have been troubling the workers less today as they plodded amid swirling dust that vehicles carrying workers and construction materials left in their wake.

Inside, at one end of the engine shop, the chassis of a silver-coloured Nano gleamed.