JSR builders face worker crunch after violence in Murshidabad; 90% of over 25K Bengal workers left

JAMSHEDPUR/RANCHI: Most builders across Jamshedpur are faced with the challenge of delivering apartments to their buyers before Akshay Tritiya, scheduled later this month, as they struggle to cope with a sudden shortage of skilled construction workers and masons.
The sudden shortage of manpower, the builders here said, was due to the recent communal tensions in Murshidabad in Bengal, from where the bulk of workers come to work in Jamshedpur and other parts of Jharkhand.
"Masons and workers hurriedly left for their homes, concerned over the safety of their families, after the news of arson and riots broke out on April 11-12,” said Ravi Maity, a realtor from Sonari. “Many buyers take possession of their flats on Akshay Tritiya as it is considered auspicious. This year, it will be difficult for me to hand over the keys of large number of flats as they will not be ready by that date due to the lack of workers," he said.
Maity, like many other builders in the city, is being pressurised by their customers for timely delivery as he makes futile efforts to connect with the workers, who have been unresponsive since leaving the town for their homes.
Builders estimate that over 25,000 masons and workers from Murshidabad were working in the city before the violence broke out.
Vinay Soni, another builder, said, "At present, 90% of them are missing from the project sites. My construction sites near Dobo wear a deserted look as as all the workers have returned to Bengal. Customers are constantly hounding me throughout the day as they want the flats before Akshaya Tritiya, which I had promised them six months earlier." Besides fearing that his reputation will be tarnished, Soni is also wary of incurring financial losses.
Buyers are also in a soup. Ravi Jha, a buyer, said his plans for a grand house-warming party has become uncertain due to the delay in delivery of the apartment keys. “I have invited my friends and relatives along with booking the caterer and tent house for the party. If I don't get the keys of the flat by next week, how will pujas be performed? The builder is now avoiding my repeated phone calls,” he said.
Unlike his colleagues, Imtiyaz Intu (60), a mason from Murshidabad, stayed back at the construction site in Sonari. "Most of my co-workers have gone back to Bengal, but I could not join them as I was down with fever. Most of the workers from Bengal have gone back to their villages to be with their near and dear ones ."
The impact of the Murshidabad violence on workers supply has, however, been limited in Ranchi. Jharkhand Builder Association president Rohit Agrawal said, “There is no doubt that worker’s inflow from Bengal has been affected due to the Murshidabad violence. West Bengal workers engaged here are both skilled and unskilled. However, we are labour surplus state and the builders in Ranchi can adequately source local workers.” Sunil Satyabhama, a city builder, said 70% of all the workers are from Bengal.