Chennai Corporation brings workers from other States by flight to expedite flood-mitigation project work

Officials said for the 88 contractors, it is worth bringing workers from other States by flight considering their high productivity

The Greater Chennai Corporation has brought hundreds of workers from other States by flight to complete the work on stormwater drain ahead of the onset of northeast monsoon. Workers from West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh have been flown in to expedite the flood-mitigation project.

More than 70% of the workers at stormwater drain construction sites in Chennai are from other States. As the work on important stretches of the project has to be completed before the deadline of September 30, many workers were flown in. Officials said considering the productivity of the workers from other States, it was worth bringing them by flight for 88 contractors who were implementing the project.

As many as 1,443 workers out of 1,935 at the sites of Kosasthalaiyar Basin in Tiruvottiyur, Manali, Madhavaram and Ambattur zones are from outside Tamil Nadu. In Wards 83, 84 and 85 in flood-prone Korattur area, 124 out of 162 workers deployed for constructing the drains are from other States. The original requirement of workers at the sites in the three wards of Korattur area was only 109. But the civic body asked the contractor to increase the number of workers to complete the work before the deadline. Similarly, 94 out of 118 labourers in Oragadam-Ambattur area in Wards 90, 81, 82, 84 and 85 for construction of drains are from outside Tamil Nadu.

In Kathirvedu-Puzhal area, which was affected by floods, all the 45 workers were from other States. Another batch of 45 workers is expected to reach the site soon. In TVS Nagar-Korattur, 44 out of the 70 workers are from other States. In Wards 32, 65, 83, 31, 64, 65, 83 and 94 in Kolathur and Madhavaram, 78 workers from other States are at work. Of the 2,310 workers required for the ADB-funded project, more than 300 were expected to arrive from outside Tamil Nadu.

In other Basins such as Adyar, Cooum and Kovalam, a large number of workers reached the city from outside Tamil Nadu. Over 2,909 labourers have reached the city from other States in all the four river Basins in the city.

Over 70% of the 4,123 labourers working in various sites are from other States. Work is under way in areas such as Pulianthope, Saidapet, Kodambakkam, Alwarpet, Ashok Nagar and T. Nagar.