Ban on sand leaves labourers in tatters

Tirupati: The state government imposed a ban on the mining and transportation of sand and the impact of this has been directly borne by the labourers of the construction industry, with a sharp fall being recorded in the employment of the rural poor.

Apart from labourers, skilled workers, traders dealing in construction materials and also contractors and builders are reeling under the crisis situation that has badly hit private and public construction, including major infrastructure projects worth crores.

The state government’s ban has not only hit the private construction and public infrastructure projects, but work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has also suffered.

Unemployment rate of at least 65 per cent is being reported among daily wage workers across Chittoor and it is estimated that over 14 lakh labourers have been rendered jobless in the state.

According to MGNREGA, the total number of households that completed 100 days of employment for the year 2019-20, as on July 12, was 60,240, whereas in the previous fiscal it was 8,66,587.

“It is a hard fact that thousands of daily wagers and semi-skilled workers have been rendered jobless and are fighting for survival, after the state government initiated large-scale action recently against sand mining and put up restrictions. Though the government had good intentions, the steps resulted in scarcity of sand and that has affected the construction industry, in which labourers are also an integral part,” Gnaneswar Reddy, a local builder observed.

Meanwhile, it was observed that until the sand mining ban, 75 per cent of all labourers used to line up at various junctions in the temple city of Tirupati in the early hours of the morning and were picked up daily by the contractors to work at construction sites.

But, in the past one month, only 35 per cent of them have got a chance to work and each labourer has got the opportunity to work only six times so far on daily wages, while in the remaining days, majority of them returned home empty-handed.

“Labourers are finding it difficult to make a living in urban areas and most of them are now going back to villages. The unavailability of sand for construction has posed a serious employment crisis for lakhs of workers and consumers, Raja Narayan Mesthri, a labour contractor said.

When asked about how he was coping, Gopala Subramanyam, a construction labourer, who visited Tirupati from nearby C. Ramapuram village every day in search of work, said “Every day I come to the city with the hope that I would find work at least today. However, as the construction industry has been hit badly, we do not have work. If the situation lingers, we will have to start worrying about how to feed our children.”

Like, Subramanyam, there are lakhs of labourers who have decided not to come back till the time industry gained momentum, as commuting and staying in city was costing them a fortune.

• The total number of households completed 100 days of wage employment for the year 2019-20, as on July 12 is 60,240, whereas in the previous fiscal it was 8,66,587.
• The state government’s ban on the mining and transportation of sand and the impact of this has been directly borne by the labourers.
• The unemployment rate of at least 65 percent is being reported among daily wages across Chittoor district and it was estimated that over 14 lakh labourers were rendered jobless in the state due to sand scarcity.
• The ban not only badly hit the private construction and public infrastructure projects, but also work under the MGNREGA has also suffered.