Bengaluru: With metro work underway in more than 15 cities across the country, there is a shortage of workers for Namma Metro work in the City.
Most of those working in the civil works of Namma Metro are of North Indian origin. At present, metro work is underway in several cities in north India including New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Noida, Bhopal, Jaipur and Amritsar. The labourers there are reluctant to come for the Bengaluru Metro work as they are getting jobs locally.
There is an acute shortage of carpenters, masons and workers working as bar-bending workers for the metro work, which is delaying the civil works. More than a thousand workers are required for the Namma Metro civil work in Bengaluru. More than 250 workers are required for the metro work on the Silkboard-K. R. Pura line. However, it is not available. The shortage of workers is not only bothering Bengaluru, but also for the ongoing metro works across the country,” said a top BMRCL official and contracting agencies.
Skilled experienced workers come from Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar. The workers’ problem has worsened after Covid, with air-conditioned (AC) trains being arranged to bring in labourers from North India but not coming. In the pre-Covid era, labourers used to come even if they had not paid wages for months. The preparation of U-girder and pier caps, steel work requires more experienced workers. Workers from North India are quite skilled in this work. Thus, they are in high demand, said contractors.
“At present, around 300 carpenters, 400 bar benders and 200 masons are required for the work of Namma metro project across the city. Work on silk board to K.R. Pura, K.R. Pura to KIAL and R. V. Road to Bommasandra route has slowed down due to non-availability of experienced workers.