Trade-off between Safety of Construction Workers and Economy in Backdrop of Covid-19

Abstract

The Indian Construction industry, which contributes to 8-10% of the country's GDP, is suffering from an unprecedented crisis in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Indian Government is facing a strict trade-off between preventing and containing the spread of Coronavirus on the one hand and revitalizing the economic activities which have come to complete halt/resumed partially depending on the zone to which an area depends on the other side. Impact of the lockdown on the industry, stimulus measures announced by the Indian Government, and some other actions recommended by Industry experts' for the revival of the Construction sector are discussed in this paper. The detailed specific guidelines to be adopted by the site personnel for safely resuming the site work are presented for the benefit of Industry practitioners. Experimental study results on the stability of SARS-CoV-2 virus on surfaces of different materials are presented. Also, the potential and suitability of Construction material and technology for overcoming the current challenges posed by the pandemic is discussed. The main objective of the paper is to understand the current precarious situation of the Construction industry and the strategies to overcome it for moving forward.