Karnataka: Mangaluru builder sends bus to bring 35 workers from Bengal

MANGALURU: Hit hard by shortage of skilled workers who returned to their hometowns in northern and eastern states after the lockdown was declared in March, a builder in Mangaluru is spending Rs 2 lakh to ferry 35 workers from West Bengal by road over a distance of 5,000km round trip.
Naveen Cardoza, president of the Mangaluru chapter of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai), has sent a non-AC semi-sleeper bus from Mangaluru to Bengal on July 18 to accelerate his multi-storey residential project.The bus is expected to bring the workers from Malda district to Mangaluru on July 28.
Hundreds of labourers in the construction industry left for home states Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, besides West Bengal, in the wake of the Covid-induced lockdown, throwing construction projects in the coastal region out of gear.
“I am paying Rs 2 lakh for the chartered bus. This is just 10% cheaper than airfares, but this will help the workers since they don’t have to struggle to reach airports. The bus will leave Bengal on July 25 after the workers are screened for Covid-19,” Cardoza told TOI.
Earlier, 10 labourers in two batches were flown to Mangaluru. Most of them are from Malda district and have to travel over 370km by road to reach Kolkata airport. “Workers from remote villages in Malda expressed difficulty in reaching the airport. Hence, we decided to send a bus this time,” he added.
Cardoza said Covid protocols will be followed once the workers arrive in Mangaluru and added that they have started the registration of workers on Seva Sindhu platform, besides setting up a quarantine facility for them.
Industry sources said many builders are talking to contractors to bring back the workers, who form nearly 90% of the construction-sector workforce.