KARACHI, Nov 14: Construction activities in the city have yet to pick up momentum as hardly 10 per cent of workers belonging to quake-affected areas have returned so far.

The massive exodus of workers following the October 8 quake that devastated major parts of Azad Kashmir and the NWFP, the construction activities in the mega city had come to a virtual halt.

However, some mega- and medium-range projects of flats and houses that used to grab a sizable space in the newspapers and ads on electronic media before the natural calamity, have not been shelved yet.

Builders and developers said that they had suspended the media campaign of future projects which had been approved recently.

Booking of new flats and apartments that had plunged phenomenally due to uncertain situation after the earthquake was still at the bottom as people and investors were still undecided about making new investment and were waiting for the normalization of the situation.

As there is no government data available, builders estimate that 50,000-150,000 workers have gone back to their homes. Workers who excel in shuttering and billet binding mainly hail from Azad Kashmir, Mansehra, Balakot, Muzaffarbad, etc., have not arrived yet.

“I think hardly 10 per cent of them have arrived from the devastated areas,” said Hafizur Rahman Butt, chairman Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD). It means that construction work on small to big projects had resumed by just 10 per cent which was definitely not satisfactory, he added.

The quake claimed over 83,000 lives, rendering over four millions homeless, which requires billions of dollars for rehabilitation and construction.

“We are hiring labour from other areas to complete the ongoing projects but there is still acute shortage of shuttering and billet binding labour,” he said. Butt said that resumption of construction activities at full scale may take at least another two months.

Mohammed Amin Lasania, executive member of Pakistan Sanitary Merchants and Manufacturers Association, said that sales of tiles and sanitary items were still very much depressed owing to slow construction activities following the October 8 catastrophe.

He said that the majority of labour working in our factories belonged to quake hit areas and they had not yet come. He added that contractors were not lifting the tiles and sanitary items at a faster pace as a large number of labourers, who fix tiles and sanitary fittings, also hail from quake devastated areas.

“Sales have dropped by 50 per cent these days as compared to pre-quake level,” Amin said.

All Pakistan Marble Mining Processing Industry and Exporters Association Chairman Sanaullah Khan said that 90 per cent gang saw operators from Mansehra and Shinkiari, who prepare marble slabs, had not arrived yet.

He said that due to a suspension in construction activities, marble lifting had plunged by 70 per cent.