Over 500 real estate projects across the city that had got permission from the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) to resume construction activities are now affected for want of workers as most of the have returned to their hometowns.
Owing to the shortage of workers, some builders have stopped construction activities while some have slowed down the pace of work at their sites.
“We have given nod to 525 real estate projects to carry out construction activities against certain conditions like maintaining social distancing and safety of workers. This includes large 50 projects with over 100 apartments each,” a senior official from the town planning department said.
“These projects had already got commencement certificates from the municipal corporation, but the construction activities at these sites were stopped due to lockdown. These projects are now facing the issue of manpower crunch,” he added.
According to city-based builders, over 60% of construction workers in Nashik are from states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
The remaining 40% of the workers include workers from Vidarbha, Marathwada and even parts of Nashik district.
“Many city builders have obtained permission from the NMC to start construction work, but the activities are yet to gain momentum due to lack of workers,” Naresh Karda, vice-president of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Nashik), said.
Karda, who is also the chairman of a major construction firm in the city, said, “We have around 14 residential projects under construction across the city and have over 450 workers. We have provided all the facilities, still around 25% of them have already moved back to their native places.”
“We are worried that others too will follow suit and this will affect the construction activities across the city,” he added.
“Lack of workers has become a major issue for the construction industry,” Jayesh Thakkar, senior member of National Real Estate Development Council (Naredco), said.
