Many labourers have left construction sites across the city as work is expected to remain suspended for weeks, and they are unwilling to stay idle for such a long period.
Several are likely to seek jobs in other states, where wages are often higher. Many had chosen to work in Calcutta because it was closer to their homes, but real estate officials fear it could be difficult to bring them back once they move elsewhere and start earning better pay.
Most workers at construction sites in Calcutta are from districts such as Murshidabad and South 24 Parganas, while others come from neighbouring states.
The state government has imposed a temporary freeze on the construction of residential buildings, G+5 (six storeys) and above and all commercial buildings till July 31. Safety audits will be conducted during this period. Under-construction residential buildings below G+5 are understood to be exempt from the suspension.
Metro visited three under-construction sites in southeast Calcutta, along the EM Bypass, on Saturday, and none had any workmen present.
At an under-construction site in Mukundapur, next to Utalika, only security guards were present when Metro visited on Saturday afternoon.
“All the workers left this morning. They stayed till Friday, hoping the ban would be lifted. But once it became clear that work would not resume anytime soon, they left,” a security guard at the site said.
More than 30 labourers had been working at the site before the state imposed the construction freeze on Wednesday, following the collapse of an under-construction warehouse that killed 16 people. The accident has triggered allegations of poor workmanship and deviations from the sanctioned building plan.
At a G+12 under-construction site in Chak Garia, not a single worker was present on Saturday.
“We had around eight workers here. Work stopped immediately after the government imposed the ban on Wednesday. The workers left on Friday. We have told them we will call them back as soon as we get permission to resume work,” said a man at the site.
A short distance away, another under-construction project was locked, with all activities suspended.
An official of the state municipal affairs department said the ban would be lifted on a case-by-case basis after safety audits. Projects found to have complied with all building norms would be allowed to resume construction even before July 31 if their audits were completed earlier.
The temporary construction freeze covers Calcutta, New Town, Bidhannagar, Rajarhat, Sonarpur-Rajpur, Pujali, Maheshtala, Budge Budge, Baranagar, South Dum Dum, Kamarhati, parts of Bally, parts of the Howrah Municipal Corporation area and the Bishnupur rural area near Joka.
A senior official of a real estate company said developers could not compel workers to remain in the city, but feared that remobilising them would be difficult once the government gave the green signal to restart work.
“They are skilled workers and are in high demand. There is a shortage of skilled construction workers across the country. Contractors often fly them to premium projects to avoid losing man-days,” a real estate developer said.
Construction sites depend on workers with specialised skills. Some are experts in tying reinforcement steel, others in plastering, while some specialise in preparing concrete in the correct mix.