Kolkata: The govt on Friday extended the suspension of construction activities at highrise building projects from July 31 to Aug 15, triggering concern among homebuyers and developers over delays and financial losses.With nearly 500 projects worth around Rs 10,000 crore stuck, the industry has estimated losses to developers at Rs 3 crore a day, apart from the EMI burden on thousands of customers who have taken home loans.Work on all highrise buildings in Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Howrah was suspended on June 26, and a high-level committee was constituted to carry out safety audits at construction sites after an under-construction warehouse collapsed near Taratala, killing 16 people. The initial deadline for completing the audit was July 31. But with only 50 projects cleared by the technical committee and only 32 by the high-level committee after five weeks of audit, the deadline has now been extended to Aug 15.Developers, however, fear the deadline may be pushed back again, as auditing around 500 projects in a fortnight is a herculean task.The high-level committee, whose nod is required for construction to resume, has also been reconstituted. PWD secretary Antara Acharya has been appointed chairperson in place of Rajesh Kumar, who recently took over as DVC chairman and managing director.The other members have also been changed, with senior officials replacing various dept heads. Developers have welcomed the move, saying it will reduce delays caused by officials being preoccupied with other responsibilities.But uncertainty over project completion timelines and mounting losses has left developers worried. “At an average of 200 units per project, around 10,000 units are held up. With the average price per unit around Rs 1 crore, nearly Rs 10,000 crore is stuck. The interest cost on capital that developers have to bear is 1%, or Rs 100 crore per month. This works out to a loss of around Rs 3 crore a day. In addition, workers are migrating to other states for jobs and it will be difficult to bring them back once the projects restart,” a developer said.
