Mangaluru: Construction companies and contractors in the region are reporting a shortage of labourers, leading to project delays and increased construction costs.Abhinandan, manager of works at Mugrody Constructions, which is undertaking several civil works in the district, said that many workers from West Bengal and Bihar left for elections and have not returned since then.He said repeated efforts to bring them back have not yielded results. He said that they are experiencing a severe manpower crisis, and their works are being hampered, which is also surging project costs.Roughly before elections, we had around 1,000 workers, but now we have somewhere around 100, he said.He also noted that many workers seek money for train tickets but later ditch them, and at times other contractors lure them away by offering higher wages.Anil Hegde, a private contractor who mainly works on concrete roads, said that all their projects are getting delayed, and that they are facing a crunch since Feb.Road and drainage works in Mangaluru as well as road works in villages of the district are stalled, he said.Hegde said that even workers from north Karnataka now demand more salary.A Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) official said that many contractors are expressing labour crunch problems. Labourers from north Karnataka are now seeking jobs as domestic helps or in apartments, and many contractors are dependent on north Indian workers.Several works, including the service road from Pumpwell to Ujjodi got delayed due to the issue, the official said.An official from Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIFDC) said that some of their works under the Jalasiri project were affected after workers left for their hometown in north India, mainly during polls.The official noted that they currently have 120 workers, and need another 200 workers, who are expected to come back for work in the next two weeks.Officials from PWD said that they currently don’t have major works, which is why they are not aware of the shortage scenario. Officials said, “Other small local and maintenance works are under way. Initially we had a labour crunch during elections, but now it is fine for us.”
