Lockdown in Gurugram: Infrastructure projects hit due to reduced workforce

Labour workforce for different infrastructure projects in the city has reduced by up to 20% due to the lockdown, said officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Wednesday. Due to this, three major projects of Dwarka Expressway, Delhi-Mumbai highway and Gurugram-Sohna flyover have been affected, said officials.

“Labour force has reduced in the past few weeks, even before the lockdown was announced in Gurugram. We have tried to assure them that all Covid-19 related safety measures are being taken at project sites, but still, labourers are continuing to go back to their villages due to various reasons. So far, 20% of the workforce has reduced in the city,” said an NHAI official, requesting anonymity.

The official cited above said that delay in completion dates of the projects cannot be estimated at present as Covid-19 cases are still increasing, but work is being managed with the available workforce.

Meanwhile, infrastructure projects of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) — including the four key road development projects underway at Huda City Centre, Mahavir Chowk, Atul Kataria Chowk and Umang Bharadwaj Chowk — that are scheduled to be completed and inaugurated by August this year, are now likely to get delayed.

Sunil Kundu, the superintending engineer of the Infrastructure-I division of GMDA, said, “Our main projects like the underpass at Huda City Centre and new flyovers that were being constructed in the city have been affected due to the lockdown and lack of labour. But we are managing with in-house workforce available with us. The projects that were scheduled to get completed by mid-2021 will get extended by another few months.”