The swollen Ganga has hit construction activities, affecting government projects and the private real estate market alike even as the floodwaters recede from Patna.

Prices of construction material like bricks and sand have skyrocketed as most brick kilns along the banks of the Ganga near Patna City and Maner and sand mining areas along the banks of the Sone in Ara are flooded. Industry experts claimed that whatever brick and sand is available in the market was stocked by the suppliers before the waters of the rivers rose.

The price of sand has increased in the range of Rs 1,500 to 2,000 per tractor load and a brick is costly by Rs 1- 1.5 thanks to their short supply ( See graphic).

Flooding in the Ganga has stalled several ambitious projects of the Nitish Kumar government, including the Ganga Driveway and Ganga riverfront development.

"Bricks in Patna mainly come from brick kilns along the banks of the Ganga at Sherpur (near Maner) and few kilns at Patna City as well," said Sachin Chandra, honorary secretary, CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India), Bihar. "Most such kilns are flooded for over a month now. As there is no fresh production, there is an acute shortage of bricks in the market. Similarly, all sand mining areas along the banks of the Ganga and the Sone are submerged with floodwater for quite some time. Hence, the short supply owing to flood has increased prices of such construction material."

Local traders of bricks and sand in the state capital corroborated the claims of rise in the prices due to the floods. "There is no fresh supply of Ganga sand in the market and whatever sand is being sold is from the existing stock only. Accordingly, the prices of one tractor load of Ganga sand has increased from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000-1,200. Similarly, price of Sone sand has increased from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,500- 4,000 after the floods," said Anil Kumar, owner of Om Sai Traders on Ashiana-Digha road. Ganga sand is white in colour and it is mostly used for ground filling while making foundation of houses. Sand from the Sone is red and it is mixed with cement and used for construction of walls, pillars, roofs and others parts of houses.

Traders claimed that prices of bricks are expected to normalise only by January next year. "While supply of sand can resume as the water level in the rivers recede, the supply of bricks is expected to resume a bit late as the brick kilns are ravaged by the floods. Accordingly, we are expecting fresh supply of bricks in the market by January next year," said Surendra Paswan, a brick trader on the Ashiana-Digha road.

Hajipur-based brick manufacturer Nishant Singh, however, claimed the short supply of bricks in Patna from Maner is being compensated by bricks from Hajipur.

"A few local traders in Patna might be charging higher prices for bricks but it is being compensated from Hajipur. I am sending several tractors full of bricks to Patna on a daily basis after the floods," said Nishant.

The inflow of construction material like cement and stone chips into the city has also been marginally affected as commercial operations are on hold at the inland water terminal at Gai Ghat due to high current in the river. Inland Waterways Authority of India, Patna, looks after the Gai Ghat terminal.

"It is difficult to operate ships from Bengal to Patna when the river is flooded as the ships move against the current, which is very high at present. Even if the ships operate, the speed will be very low, which would in turn increase the consumption of fuel, raising the construction cost," said an official in the water resources department.

On Sunday, a receding trend was observed in the Ganga along Patna and a similar trend has been forecast for Monday.