Chennai water crisis hits construction sector

The water crisis in Chennai and across several other places in Tamil Nadu has affected the construction sector severely, said realty players.

“We are not able to get good water fulfilling quality parameters from the ground hence we are forced to buy tanker water which is very costly and increases the cost of construction,” Varun Manian, Managing Director, Radiance Realty Developers India Ltd, told IANS.

The shortfall in supply delays construction timelines and the handing over of the properties, he said.

Queried about how Radiance Realty is managing, Manian said: “We started using self-curing concrete and plaster to reduce the consumption of water. We started constructing storm water collection system and rain water harvesting wells during the course of construction and this will increase the quality and yield of the ground water within two seasons.”

He does not see any fall in property sales due to the water crisis.

“The water crisis has affected the construction sector. The normal pace of activity during this period is not happening in Tamil Nadu,” R.Thayumanavan, former state head of the Federation of All Civil Engineers Association of Tamil Nadu and Puduchery, said telephonically from Cuddalore.

Asked about retaining the workers from outside Tamil Nadu, Thayumanavan, also a Managing Partner of Alfa Building Construction, said: “We have not sent them back till now.”

The realty players said they were adopting a wait and watch policy to decide whether to send back the construction workers to their native states like Bihar and West Bengal.

The reservoirs - Cholavaram (full capacity 1,081 mcft) and Redhills (3,300 mcft) - which cater to Chennai’s water needs, are dry while the storage at Poondi reservoir is 24 mcft against the full capacity of 3,231 mcft, stated the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (Chennai Metro).