Syndicates rule: take it or…

By ZEESHAN JAWED

Calcutta, Jan. 18: Alleged Trinamul-backed syndicates have disrupted construction in a Rs 300-crore-plus real estate project in Newtown to teach the contractors a lesson as they dared to procure materials from other sources.
The trigger behind the trouble at the site for Elita Garden Vista, a joint venture between Keppel Land and Magus Estates of the Jatia Group in Action Area III in Newtown, is the decision by contractors, Simplex Infrastructure, to source bituminous macadam directly from a company.
"Bituminous macadam, made of a mineral aggregate, is an appropriate binder and it is laid using machines. It is in vogue these days and we got this material to lay a 4km road inside the 25-acre project site," said a Simplex official.
The move to look beyond the syndicates ' small consortiums that supply building materials ' did not go down well with the groups, which claim the blessings of local Trinamul leaders.
Syndicates have always been part of the construction boom in south Bengal but, after the Assembly elections, the scales have tilted. Several builders have been complaining of poor quality and quantity of materials, for which they are being forced to cough up more. The flux is being seen as the fallout of more and more youths entering the field after waiting in vain for promised employment opportunities.
The Elita project felt the ripples yesterday when around 50 youths ' most of them members of the syndicates in the area ' raided the site and told the promoters not to source any material from elsewhere.
The youths blocked the main entrance to the site to prevent trucks carrying bituminous macadam from entering the site.
"We have been sourcing all construction materials from these syndicates. But we decided to use bituminous macadam to lay a durable pathway in the shortest possible time. Besides, the syndicates do not have the wherewithal to supply the mix as they can supply only bricks, sand and stone chips. Still they wanted us to source materials for the road from them. As we refused, they did not let the lorries enter the site," a Simplex source said.
If the contractors cannot source bituminous macadam, they will have to lay the road using the traditional mix of stone chips and tar.
"It is an unreasonable demand as we wanted to make it a showpiece project. Buyers will be spending anything between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 70 lakh to buy flats here," said a Simplex official.
Simplex Infrastructure, however, is not the only victim of the "unreasonable" behaviour of the syndicates. The Telegraph has earlier reported how the syndicates ' with support from local Trinamul satraps ' were forcing developers to buy inferior building materials at a premium.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has several times told Trinamul members to steer clear of syndicates.
"The only activity that has grown since the new government has come to power is that of syndicates. The arm-twisting approach of the syndicates is not restricted to Rajarhat…. The syndicates are using the same modus operandi all across the state," said a promoter of a leading real estate company.
Local MLA Sabyasachi Dutta, however, said that he was not aware of any disruption at any construction site, adding that Trinamul workers were not associated with any syndicate. "Nobody can force any builder to purchase materials from them. They can at the most request the builders," Dutta told The Telegraph.
The chronology of events at the site, around 20km from the heart of the city, since yesterday, however, tells a different story. The youths returned this morning to renew the threat, forcing the authorities to stop work on the pathway.
Panchayat samiti member Tapan Mondal, a local Trinamul leader, reached the spot in an SUV around 1pm and entered the site to hold a meeting with the Simplex officials. He came out after around two hours.
Asked what an elected representative of Trinamul was doing inside a construction site for over two hours, he said: "A lot of small stalls have come up in front of the project. The developers of the project want me to find out a solution so that they can beautify the fa�ade of the project."
Asked about the suggestions he might have made to remove the stalls, Mondal did not give any specific answer. No one from Simplex Infrastructure was willing to go on record on what transpired at the meeting.
However, a source at the site said it had been conveyed to Simplex officials that building materials would have to be sourced from the local youths.
A senior official of Simplex Infrastructure said they were too afraid to lodge a complaint against the syndicates and local leaders.
He added that such a step would be "futile" in any case. "It will be futile. Nobody is going to take any action against them. Even we know we will have to accept their demands or else the project will get stuck midway," said the official.

The above is from the Telegraph.
So, what is the difference between Mamata Banerjee and the CPM.
The CPM took all of 32 years to reach the stage of goonda raj which Mamta Banerjee has been able to achieve in 6 months.
Why?
Because the same people who were earlier extorting under the CPM banner have now shifted allegiance to the Trinamul.
Every now an then Mamta Banerjee castigates her party people in public that this will now be allowed but then winks at them in private to tell them that they may proceed as they want to earn money.