GUWAHATI: The Assam Real Estate and Infrastructure Developers Association has sought the intervention of chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal to bail the construction industry out of the alarming situation triggered by acute scarcity and unabated price rise of stone chips and sand, the two basic ingredients of cement concrete.
“Small quantities of stone chips and sand are trickling in but at highly inflated prices since the crisis first hit the industry in April last year. As a result, several projects have been stalled and a substantial workforce retrenched, thereby increasing the cost burden on home buyers,” AREIDA president, P.K. Sharma told reporters here on Sunday.
Sand and stone chips are currently selling at Rs 1800 per cm (cubic metre) and Rs 2800 per cm respectively as against Rs 1100 per cm and Rs 1500 per cm about a year back.
“As of now, the construction industry in Assam is heavily dependent on Meghalaya for meeting its requirement of stone chips with 90 per cent of it being fulfilled by three stone quarries in the hill state. This is just a small amount as against the actual requirement, resulting in inflated rates. Nearly all the stone quarries in Assam have been closed as well owing to problems faced in extraction through blasting,” Sharma said.
The crackdown on the sale of unauthorized sand in south Kamrup and Goalpara by the state government a year back has compelled the dealers to sell the material only through challan as against selling at least about 90 per cent of the reserves through unauthorised channels (without challan).
“The quantity they can now sell through challan is just miniscule which has impacted prices,” he said.
Property prices in the states have increased, sources say, have increased by 30 per cent following the rise in input costs.
Surveys estimate a current shortage of 3lakh homes in Assam and 70,000 homes in Guwahati.
“The trend is in sharp contrast to the progress made by other states which have made the most of the initiatives taken by the Centre under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana which aims at ‘Housing For All by 2022’. It was only this year that a few affordable housing projects were announced for Assam,” Sharma said.
The association has apprised the previous forest minister (Pramila Rani Brahma) and the department authorities about the situation but to no avail.
“Now we will meet the chief minister and seek his intervention in the larger interest of the economy and creation of an environment that attracts investment. Besides, the livelihoods of lakhs of people are associated with the construction industry,” he said.
AREIDA further pointed out certain issues that still plague the industry such as about 28 errors in the building bye laws, errors in notification declaring industrial corridor along NH-31 and NH-37, rule violations in regard to sale permissions and lack of a proper master plan and zoning regulations.
However it welcomed the announcement made by the state government that the revised Building Construction Regulation Bye Laws would be notified after the next Cabinet meeting.
“Assam is the only state where outdated building bye laws are still in force while others have revised the same over a year back in accordance with the guidelines of the government,” the association’s president said.