With a large number of migrant workers leaving the city after the lockdown was enforced, Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL), depends more on local workers.
The work on phase I extension project in north Chennai has been on but with a minimal workforce owing to the lockdown. Sources working on the project said for the past few weeks now, they had become more dependent on local labourers near the project as a majority of migrant workers had gone home.
“We can’t stop those who wanted to return home. So we decided to employ local labourers here. In the place of nearly 300-400 workers now, we have 100-120 now in our site. Of this, nearly 50% are local labourers in our site,” an official engaged in the project said.
Another issue is that although some migrant workers are still available, it is a challenge to bring them from their camp to the work site owing to the lockdown and to get an e-pass for the same. “We have got some local labourers who are doing a fine job so far. Going forth, for a while, we may have to depend on them. It is not clear when the migrant workers would come back,” another official said.
Safety norms
Meanwhile, sources said they had been trying to get migrant workers from a few States such as Odisha but getting permission and arranging transportation were posing a challenge. Workers had been given masks and sanitisers on the sites and they check the temperature of workers every day.
According to officials of CMRL, they had been trying to keep the work going with the existing labour force. “We have to be humane and understanding. Whoever wanted to return home, we allowed them to leave. After all, they have been yearning to be with their families. The contractor has been employing both migrant and local workers and managing during the lockdown. The work will speed up once the lockdown is lifted,” an official said.