The state government has brought about some relaxations here and allowed certain construction activities even as the national lockdown has been extended to May 17. These, however, have failed to provide relief to the real estate sector. Contractors and developers are finding it hard to continue with pending projects, let alone start new ones, because of lack of manpower.
Migrant workers who arrived in the state from other states to work on construction projects have either started returning or are all set to go back home, leaving the real estate sector woefully short of labourers. Those labourers who are returning to the state from other parts of the country will be out of action for at least two weeks, since they have to undergo 14 days of quarantine.
“We had expected that the impact of Covid-19 on the real estate sector will continue well beyond the lockdown period and this is exactly what is happening. Construction workers are leaving for their hometowns and those returning to Odisha can’t work now due to isolation norms,” Nishit Ranjan Nanda, president of Association for Odisha Real Estate Developers (Aford), said.
Nanda said the peak construction work season, which is summer, was almost over. By the time things normalise, monsoon would have arrived, adding to the ongoing crisis, he added. “The loss of construction time will also pose a problem in getting occupancy certificates from the concerned authorities,” he further said.
Nanda said although the loss of construction time would be treated as a force majeure (a contract clause that frees both parties from liabilities or obligations in the event of extraordinary circumstances) and RERA might consider this period to be excluded from the agreement period with customers, the validity of the building plan approval, which is usually three years, would pose a problem for developers unless the validity duration is extended.
Chairman of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai), Odisha, D S Tripathy also said the lockdown had badly affected the real estate sector and the impact would be long-lasting. “The sector is expected to face acute shortage of manpower,” he said. President of the city chapter of Credai, Kantilal Patel, said the pandemic and the simultaneous lockdown had brought the sector to a grinding halt. “The unavailability of construction workers is going to worsen things,” he said.
Besides developers, contractors taking on re-erection or redevelopment work are also suffering because of the repatriation of construction workers.
“I have hired nearly 70 workers from Bengal for my projects. The work has stopped and their return will pose more problems for me,” Gyana Mohanty, a contractor working in Bomikhal, said.