Coronavirus lockdown 3.0 | Construction to resume in some projects across Noida, Greater Noida from May 5

After Gurugram, construction work is expected to resume in Noida on May 5 but real estate developers say the biggest challenge they face is that almost 50 percent of the workforce may return to their villages and construction work may get further delayed by a year.

The government on May 1 extended the nationwide lockdown to contain novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, by two more weeks. Construction activities in urban areas have been limited to in-situ construction, where workers are available on site and no workers are required to be brought in from outside, and construction of renewable energy projects, the guidelines said.

The government has also permitted labourers to return to their hometown.

Real estate developers stopped construction works on sites following the nationwide lockdown imposed from March 25 to contain the pandemic.

The government on April 15 had relaxed guidelines in lockdown 2.0, permitting some construction activity in non-COVID-19 hotspots starting April 20. However, this builders would have to ensure strict social distancing guidelines and were applicable to projects construction workers were locally available on the site.

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Under the new guidelines, contractors along with developers will need to ensure that social distancing is maintained at sites and will need to find ways and means of achieving it. For basic hygiene and safety precautions, companies can regularly sanitise sites and provide labourers with masks, soap and sanitisers for washing hands frequently.

NAREDCO-Uttar Pradesh President RK Arora told Moneycontrol that construction would resume in some projects in Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway from May 5 after developers secure permissions from authorities.

“Construction restarted at our sites in Gurgaon on May 4 and it will resume at our sites located in Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway from May 5. As many as 4,500 labourers are working across our sites,” he said.

However, he said a lot of migrant workers may want to return to their native place following the central government’s permission. “This is our biggest fear and if that happens, projects may get delayed by almost a year,” he said.

In Ghaziabad, the administration issued guidelines for resuming construction work on May 4. Gaurav Gupta, President, CREDAI NCR, said Ghaziabad administration has issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) under which permission to restart construction would be issued online.

“Construction has been permitted only for labourers residing within the site. We would have to conduct medical tests conducted on all our labourers and provide an affidavit stating that we would comply with all the guidelines and observe social distancing norms,” he said.

“Our biggest worry is that almost 50 percent labourers wish to return to their hometown and that would delay the project further,” he said.

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has also allowed work to resume at 60 construction sites, provided workers reside on the premises and social distancing norms are followed, CEO VS Kundu had told Moneycontrol.

“Around 60 sites have been given permission to restart construction in Gurugram. The chief consideration was that labour should be staying on the premises and they should not be transported,” Kundu, who is also additional Chief Secretary of Haryana, said.

Parveen Jain, Vice Chairman, NAREDCO and CMD, Tulip Infratech Pvt, told Moneycontrol his firm received GMDA’s permissions to restart work at three sites.

“As many as 500 labourers are currently residing across the three sites. The biggest challenge is to retain them now. We had a total of 800 before the pandemic broke out,” Jain said.

Jain said availability of cement was proving to be a big challenge. “It (a bag of cement) is currently retailing at Rs 350 per bag. We have requested the government to step in and resolve the matter,” he said, adding there should be no supply chain hindrances or it would lead to another six months of delay.

Before the lockdown, a bag of 50-kg cement retailed for Rs 180.

Signature Global Group has been granted permission to resume construction across 17 projects in Gurugram and Karnal, said Chairman Pradeep Aggarwal, who is also the Xhairman of ASSOCHAM National Council on Real Estate, Housing and Urban Development.

“We hope to receive permissions to restart work on the remaining seven projects within a week,” Aggarwal said.

According to KPMG, total construction projects worth more than Rs 59 lakh crore are under development, most of which would have been impacted severely by COVID-19. The Indian construction sector employs over 49 million people, close to 12 percent of the nation’s working population. Further, it has a multiplier effect on nearly 250 allied industries.