Pune: Workers drop home visit for jobs at Hadapsar building site

PUNE: A group of 10 construction workers from Uttar Pradesh has cancelled plans to return to their villages. They will now stay in Pune where they expect better days after lockdown III opened construction activities in the green zones.
This TOI photographer spotted them walking on the Katraj Dehu-Road bypass at Chandani Chowk.
“We are going to Katraj-Undri-Hadapsar area. We hear a lot of construction is underway in that area. The state government has decided to permit building activity in some areas and builders and contractors are recruiting labourers. We expect brighter days ahead,” they said.
Rajendra Verma (22) said they come from the same village and are either blood relatives or close friends.
“We migrated to Maharashtra in the last decade for work. We were working at a construction site in Talegaon Dabhade for the last one and a half years,” he said.
When the lockdown was announced, they all lost their jobs.
“The last two months tested our endurance. We ran short of money and food. Local residents supported us. When we heard that the government was facilitating the return of migrant workers to their native places, we started preparing. But the government decided to allow construction activity and our lives became brighter,” Verma said.
His friend Sundar, who works at a construction site in Hadapsar, called them saying the contractor was recruiting and there were jobs if they reached Hadapsar.
“I talked to my group and we all thought that it was better to stay put here. There appeared no point in suffering hardships to return to our native place where we would be jobless even after spending a fortnight in quarantine,” he said.
His wife Ranu said farm work in their village fetched Rs 100-150 a day. “Here, we get daily wages of Rs 500-600. We can support our families back home.”
Rajendra’s friend Vinod Rathod (18) said he had arrived in Pune six months ago and has to repay the loan he took to shift to Pune.
“What good it would have brought me had I decided to return to my village? Staying back appears to be a better option. I hope this nightmare ends and good days return. After all, I need money to get married too,” he added.