Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has come up with a solution to problems of migrant workers who are not willing to go home and are also not ready to leave civic shelters. The civic body will offer work to these workers in PMC’s ongoing development works, where contractors are facing a manpower crunch.
Due to COVID-19 epidemic for over two months, 1,719 people are living in 23 shelter homes, especially PMC-run schools in different parts of the city. The PMC is providing them with shelter and food as per the Central and State government guidelines. These are construction labourers left unattended by their contractors and real estate developers after the lockdown.
Recently, the Central and State government issued directives to make arrangements and send migrants to their hometown. The PMC has also appealed to them to live or vacate the shelter so that it can be turned into a quarantine facility.
Speaking to Sakal Times, PMC water supply department Superintendent Engineer Nandkumar Jagtap said, “There is 24x7 uninterrupted and equitable water supply project work going on in the city. After the State government orders, contractors have started work. But they are facing a labour shortage as most of them returned to their hometowns and some of them are leaving now.”
He said, “Larsen and Turbo (L&T) has undertaken the work of 24x7 water project. They are constructing overhead water tanks and laying water pipelines. At present, they have started work of the tanks but they have limited workers. Before the lockdown, there were 450 workers. Now, there are only 140 workers. Of these, a few are going to their hometown. Contractors need labourers. Hence, he decided to speak to the migrants who are living in PMC shelters and provide work, salary, food and shelter to them.”
