Chennai Metro Rail Limited faces manpower shortage as many migrant workers go home to vote

Chennai Metro Rail faces worker shortage due to migrant workers voting, impacting Phase II Project construction sites.

Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has been facing a worker shortage at the Phase II Project construction sites as hundreds of migrant workers have returned to their natives to cast their vote in the Lok Sabha election.

Usually, about 20,000 workers are deployed across various worksites in the 116-km Phase II network, which is being executed in the city at a cost of ₹61,843 crore. Sources said the number of workers in these site had dipped quite a bit owing to the election.

According to CMRL officials, many migrant workers employed for the project are from States such as Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and Jharkhand.  They will be back to work by the end of May, say officials.

“Though we are at a crucial stage of the project, we are still managing with the available resources and manpower. It is important that they are allowed to go home to exercise their franchise. Once they get back, we will speed up the work further and try to meet the deadline,” an official said.

Sources said the workers only get to meet their families once in a while, so it was natural that they would use this chance to stay for a month before returning.

Though the authorities had asked contractors to mobilise the local workforce, they are finding it tough. “The local workforce is more expensive, and it won’t be possible to hire them in large numbers. Also, the usual workers know how to operate our machines. Bringing in new workers for only a month may not work,” a source said.

While construction is underway at a majority of the sites for the Phase II Project, the primary focus is to first complete the stretch from Poonamallee to Porur, which is part of corridor 4.