House projects grind to a halt due to scarcity of sand

MYSORE: S N Jagadish Kumar, who is constructing a house in Dattagalli III stage, is anxiously waiting for his supply of sand to complete the remaining works of his house. The housewarming ceremony is scheduled to be held on December 7, but the delay in sand supply is giving him sleepless nights.
The work on the 1500 sqft house which commenced 10 months ago is in its final stage.Only flooring work is remaining, but due to non-availability of sand, the project has been put off for a few weeks. Now, the owner is in a quandary and is worried if he should continue preparations for the housewarming ceremony for the scheduled date or postpone it.
Jagadish, a government servant, said the strike by truckers transporting sand has put him in a tight spot. He claims the indefinite protest is burning a hole in his pocket, as he may have to pay extra interest, shell out house rent for another few months and also construction cost may escalate. This apart, he is yet to receive the third installment of loan obtained from LIC.
Another house owner Shivaraj, who is building 1200 sqft house on Dewan’s Road in the heart of city, is also waiting for sand supply so he can finish the remaining work on the house. Like these builders, there are scores of property owners who are inconvenienced due to the ongoing truck owners’ protest and they are urging the government to soon take a firm decision in this regard.
Contractor Parathasarthy H M claims that almost every major construction work in Mysore has come to a standstill due to lack of sand supply. A similar situation prevailed six months ago, but truck owners withdrew their protest despite the government’s failure to address the issue on this score.
This time around, construction activities have been badly affected across Mysore for the past three weeks. In such situations, even engineers and contractors will face losses, the contractor claimed.