Kochi/Thrissur: Several key projects in Kerala have been hit with the migrant workers returning to their home states amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
With just couple of weeks left before the monsoon begins in Kerala, these projects are likely to be delayed by several months.
Those projects that needed just few more weeks for completion have also been stalled. The affected projects include, Vyttila and Kundanoor flyovers, Kochi Metro's extension to Pettah, Vizhinjam project and Punalur-Ponkunam Road.
People executing these projects have complained that the police had urged the migrant workers at the labour camps to take the train home.
The migrant workers were reportedly given food and salary, and social distancing norms were followed at work.
The workers were sent off in the trains without the permission of the employers.
If the work is stalled for the next three weeks due to lack of labourers, and the monsoon arrives by June, then the project cannot be completed for months. As harvesting season is set to begin in Odisha and West Bengal, there is no clarity on when the workers will return.
Vizhinjam project too affected
Only the construction of Pulimuttu (sea wall) was pending in the Vizhinjam project.
Representatives of Adani, tasked with the project, have said that the construction has been stalled with the migrant workers leaving the state. The Pullimuttu work will have to be suspended during the monsoon when huge waves will be triggered. Adani's plan to finish the work before the start of the monsoon has now gone awry.
The construction of the Kazhakootam-Karode National Highway is also moving at a snail's pace.
The estimated cost of these projects run into several crores of rupees.
Most of these projects also have pre-monsoon preparative works, which have been affected by the absence of workers.
The single-storey dilemma
Shops functioning out of buildings with more than one floor will remain shut in the state.
The state government has mandated that shops with more than one floor should not open during the lockdown, affecting thousands of workers and commercial establishments.
The merchants have urged the state government to review the decision as the guidelines issued by the Centre do not have such a directive.
They have demanded that the shops be given permission to function.
Most of the big shops in the home and electric appliances, and textile sectors are functioning out of double- or multi-storey buildings.
The Centre's order mandates that malls and shopping complexes should not be opened. But there are no specific guidelines on opening stand-alone shops.
Such shops are even functioning in states, with higher number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
However, the order in Kerala specifically gives permission to only single-storey buildings, and big commercial establishments are unable to open.
The merchant associations have said that the permission should be given to these shops while adhering to all guidelines, including the social distancing norms.
They also pointed out that they incur huge losses as they have to pay higher taxes and power bills than other shops even when they are not functioning.
The merchants alleged that Kerala was the only state to categorise these shops in the category of malls.
It would aid the thousands of workers and merchants by allowing these shops to function even if more stringent rules are imposed.
Jewellers remain locked
The jewellery shops in Kerala remain shut even though curbs were eased in several sectors in the third phase of lockdown.
The small jewellery shops, with just one-two staff or run by the owners themselves, have also been denied permission.
Not just the merchants, even common people, who want to sell off their gold to find money for urgent needs, are also suffering due to the order. They could have hugely benefited due to high gold prices. Even before the lockdown had started, several people were selling the gold ornaments at the shops because of the high price.
Several jewellery owners are also not able to provide gold ornaments to those customers who had booked in advance for events such as weddings.
Currently, there are around 12,000 jewellery stores in the state. Of these, only 400-odd jewellery shops function out of double or multi-storeyed buildings.
Around 50 per cent of the jewellery shops function with just the owner and the staff. Most of the other shops have less than 10 staff.
With the shops shut for 1.5 months, the small-scale jewellery owners are being pushed to the verge of a debt crisis.
Even jewellery manufacturers are in a crisis situation and the workers are left jobless.
All Kerala Golds and Silver Merchants Association state general secretary K Surendran said that jewellery shops should be allowed to function as per the guidelines.
