Pune Municipal Corporation permits construction activities; developers asking migrant workers to stay back

Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has permitted developers to resume construction activities in the city. Over 15,000 labourers have registered at various police stations seeking permission to return to their native places. Now developers have started persuading the construction labours to stay back and resume work to instil confidence in them.

There are around 80,000 construction workers in the city. Some of them have already returned to their hometowns before the lockdown was clamped. Most of them are from Bihar, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

According to the police department, over 15,000 migrant workers have registered their names at various police stations. Most of them are from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The police have set up a separate migrant cell for the registration of these workers.

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association (CREDAI) Managing Director, Magarpatta city, Satish Magar said, "We have started construction activities in Pune. We are persuading migrant works to stay back as the government has allowed them to return their home states. Actually, they will stay back as construction activities have started, and now they will feel confident about getting work. If they go home, they have to quarantine themselves, which will not get them any work there. We are asking them to stay back. We will provide them with facilities as well as work."

He said April-July is a lean period for construction work. Therefore, it wouldn't affect construction activities much.

CREDAI, Pune Metro, Vice-President, Ranjit Naiknavare said, "The migrant labourers return to their native places will have a major impact on the industry as well as the economy of the State. We have discussed this with the district administration as well. All representatives from builders have been advised to hold a meeting with contractors and labourers to persuade them to stay and start work as early as possible. However, their going back is not going to work in labourers favour as they will remain without wages and will have to quarantine themselves for 21 days after reaching there."

"They will not be able to meet their families. This massive migration may also lead to a health emergency. Therefore, we are dissuading them from leaving the city. Anyway, there is only 15 to 20 per cent workforce which is adamant on going back; others understand the pros and cons of the travel," he added.

No new permission for construction: PMC

PMC City Engineer Prashant Waghmare said, "We have allowed construction activities to resume in the city. The government has issued directives on what types of precautions have to be taken to restart construction work. Developers should follow them. We have not allowed or sanctioned any new construction proposals. That will take some time."