Sand truckers’ strike affects major realty projects
Just when the Silicon Valley of the Nation was pinning hopes on the realty sector to perk-up its ailing economy, the developers and individuals, who planned for a dream house of their own, have been hit hard by the scarcity of sand. The lorry strike has paralyzed the construction activity in the city and has emerged as the single-biggest reason for the developers to worry, at present.
As per property consultants, Bangalore requires minimum 30000 truckloads of sand each day. The indefinite strike called by the truckers recently, has added to the woes of the builder’s community, affecting the construction activities significantly. Furthermore, the strike has put a dead-halt on different big and small real estate projects in the city. Owing to the present scenario, developers will either have to slow down the construction work or cease work till the crisis resolves.
The rising issue
The FOKLOA-Federation of Karnataka Lorry Owners Association, has called for a strike for an indefinite period, in a move to ease up the norms for the transport of sand. The strike demands the withdrawal of the penal clause of Sec. 379, according to which illegal sand mining and transportation will impose a 2 year jail term. Following the strike, sand is likely to emerge as one of the most expensive raw materials for the construction industry.
Public projects have also taken a beating, following the crisis. In the last two weeks, the work on the underpass CNR Rao Circle made no significant progress. Works on small ward-level projects has also come to a standstill. Sand stock has helped the developers for quite sometime now, however, they are running on empty at present. Metro contractors are struggling hard to acquire sand, and finish construction within the specified time.
Impact on the construction industry
About two weeks ago, a truckload of sand was priced at Rs 25000, while the recent times called Rs 30000 and Rs 40000 per load. This, as a result, will eventually shoot up the prices for realty projects in the city, which will be borne by the end-users and investors. Such a crisis is likely to affect more than Rs 500 crore projects in the city, significantly.
Furthermore, the strike will have a cascading impact on the potential home owners from the middle-class households, who took loan from banks to built their dream homes. Matters will become much worse, when people related to construction and sand supply activities will lose their jobs. Although the bigger projects have a stack of sand for utility purpose, the smaller ones will almost come to a standstill.
