Builders in the city heaved a sigh of relief with construction activities picking up pace after a span of several months. As sand supply normalises, construction works have resumed, despite prices of cement and other material shooting up.
Insufficient sand supply across the state had stalled construction for over six months. Following a string of protests by construction workers and opposition parties, the state government opened multiple sand reaches while several other sand reaches have been identified for development. Krishna district collector A Mohammed Imtiaz said additional sand reserves have been identified to cater to the needs of builders for the next three years.
The Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) is running a special portal for bulk sales to facilitate building activity. “The construction industry is relieved with the new sand policy. We are able to get a truckload of sand (four cubic meter) at Rs 10,500, which would earlier cost Rs 25,000,” said RV Swamy, president of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI), Vijayawada unit.
He added, “The district collector has taken a special initiative to supply sand and allocated a sand reach for us.”
“We have focused on completing pending works to hand over flats on time to the buyers. Sale of mid-range flats has also increased in recent times,” Swamy added.
Construction workers have also expressed happiness at the pick up in pace of building activity. “We have faced tough times for more than six months. Now, we are able to get work. Builders who are hiring us are paying additional wages to work additional hours,” said K Naidu, a construction worker from Gandhinagar.
Meanwhile, the planning wing of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has said it has received a number of applications since November for approval of building plans. “We have kept a special focus on construction activity in the city. We are perusing online applications to approve building plans while simultaneously initiating stringent action against illegal construction,” said city planner Lakshmana Rao.
There has been a growth of around 15 per cent in construction activity in the last month as per the civic body’s estimates, he added.
At present, there are around 300 buildings under construction in and around the city. Shortage of sand over the past few months had stalled new projects from being taken up, with builders focusing on completing pending works.
