The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has come out against the blockade imposed by the Tamil Nadu government on the movement of crucial quarry products, including stone aggregates, gravel, and Msand, into Keralam. Union leaders say this restriction has completely paralysed the State’s construction sector, affecting ongoing infrastructure work and leaving thousands of workers without a livelihood.

To demand immediate action from both State governments, CITU construction and motor sector unions will stage a protest march and dharna towards the Puliyara border check post on September 11. The joint committee is calling on Tamil Nadu to lift its material movement curbs and is demanding active intervention from the Keralam government.

Crippling the construction sector

“Due to Keralam’s high population density, the present crisis has severely crippled the State’s construction sector. The lack of work has forced migrant laborers to return to their home States, while local workers have been left unemployed. Crucial public housing projects under the LIFE Mission, as well as broader developmental initiatives, have ground to a halt. The total standstill has stripped truck operators, drivers, and daily-wage construction laborers of their income, plunging thousands of families into severe economic hardship,” said S Jayamohan, district secretary, CITU.

The leadership pointed out that the acute shortage of basic raw materials has brought activity across residential, commercial and public works sites to a sudden halt. “Contractors have been compelled to abandon vital civil projects, including roads, bridges, and housing projects, as procurement has become practically impossible. Capitalizing on the artificial deficit, local supplier cartels are demanding exorbitant material prices,” he added.

Criticising the Keralam government for its passive and evasive stance in handling this emergency, CITU demands immediate action to address the crisis. “The State administration has consistently turned a blind eye to viable local alternatives, such as removing river sand and sediment accumulated during recent floods, a measure that would simultaneously ease raw material shortages and generate local revenue for local bodies. Furthermore, the Forest department has abandoned its previous mechanism of collecting monsoon-deposited sand and supplying it to yards at subsidised rates, leaving the public entirely dependent on external supply chains,” they said.