The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Construction industry in disarray

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Sunday, Aug 10, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Construction industry in disarray

Price rise has made survival difficult; foregoing nutrition has become a daily affair

— Photo: M. Moorthy.

TIGHT ROPE EXISTENCE: A mason at work at Kattur in Tiruchi district.

For the working segment in the construction industry in the district, rising costs of essentials is a cause for worry as well as frustration.

They are worried as they know not what the future has in store for them having been pushed to the extreme already.

And their frustration stems from the fact that most of them had switched over to the vocation years ago due to agricultural decline in rural parts.

They now have nowhere to go and none understands what inflation means. They only know that the price rise has made their survival difficult.

They are scraping through a livelihood by sacrificing many things in life.

Forgoing nutrition has become a daily affair these days for masons, painters, plumbers, construction helpers and others in construction-related work.

In the case of construction site helper (sithal), even travelling by bus to work or consuming vegetables has turned out to be a luxury. With a constant salary, they are in a helpless situation. For a mason, the daily wage ranges from Rs. 200 to Rs. 250 and a helper receives about Rs. 110 a day. The work being contract-based for plumbers and painters they dread the lull in construction activities.

Says 29-year-old K. Kumar, a mason at a construction site in Kattur on the city outskirts: “Before the price rise I used to purchase rice directly from mills for Rs.20 a kilogram. The same variety of rice now costs Rs. 30 a kilogram. I had no other go than to depend on rice rationed through public distribution outlets. Due to the huge demand for ration rice, there is a lot of crowd at PDS outlets and hence, I am forced to devote an entire day at the shop forgoing work. It only precipitates my economic discomfiture.” A father of two kids, Kumar does not use his two-wheeler any more.

The only positive development is he has quit smoking and consuming suparis since he finds them unaffordable.

And his friend Mohan has stopped consuming liquor for the same reason.

N. Kalimuthu (40), who quit agriculture eight years ago after suffering heavy losses, now fears that he is gradually slipping into a debt trap. “The budget has been shooting up over the recent months and I have been managing through borrowings. But how long can I continue like this,” he wonders. Kalimuthu has stopped using his two-wheeler, making it a point to travel by bus. “I have also stopped visiting my relatives,” said a worried Kalimuthu. K. Vasudevan, a plumber has stopped consuming tea in tea stalls. He says it is not within his means to pay Rs.3.50 for a cup of the beverage.

Attending to health needs of children has become an uphill task for whatever is earned is barely enough for hand to mouth existence.

Vasudevan also sees no point in attending functions of relatives and friends in such a tight situation. Even the cost of a matchbox has doubled from 50 paise to one rupee, he points out. The condition of helpers in construction sites mainly constituting women is worse still. Travelling by bus has become a thing of the past for Saroja (50), a resident of Kalkandarkottai. Unable to afford spending Rs.12 for to and fro transport expenses, this frail woman walks every day to the construction site at Kattur. With whatever she earns, she has to support her husband Rathinam who cannot work due to a chronic hip problem. “Due to availability of ration rice, we do not starve. But buying other essentials is next to impossible. The cost of soap I usually buy has increased from Rs.5 to Rs. 9. There would be a crisis in the family, if I were to fall sick,” she laments.

They do know that they are passing through difficult times. All they look for is a solution for at least partial mitigation of their difficulties. But, they do not understand how to tighten belts anymore.

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