Like every morning, Aziz Khan on Monday strutted towards the Jinsi square here, carrying chapatis<\/em> and a water bottle. Laid off as a cook by a biryani restaurant, he hoped to keep up the strength to haul cement bags and bricks at a construction site at least till the evening. But like the past five days, he returned home by noon, somehow finishing the lunch at the square \u2014 swallowing some with difficulty and throwing bits at street dogs. <\/p>\n \u201cMaybe tomorrow,\u201d he murmured, while dispersing along with tens of construction workers, who stood up heavily from a pavement along shops, where they waited since morning in vain to find work. \u201cYou can\u2019t miss even a day. You never know when work comes your way,\u201d said Mr. Khan, 28. <\/p>\n Through the morning, every two-wheeler that stopped at the square brought hope for masons, electricians, plumbers, welders, painters and labourers gathered there. But among a mass of workers that crowded them, private contractors picked only two-three ready to work for the lowest wage, the longest. \u201cBefore the lockdown, we found work almost every other day. But now it\u2019s just once a week if we are lucky,\u201d said Ratan Ahirwar, a plumber. <\/p>\n At the Jinsi square, now only 500-600 locals arrive as against 1,000 earlier, with most scrambling to secure the day\u2019s employment in the floundering real estate sector. The suspension of public transport has clipped the supply of cheap labour from neighbouring districts, while a reduced demand has crashed wages even as the cost of construction surges. And the fear of contracting the illness has prompted households to put off renovation and construction work. <\/p>\n \u201cContractors fear coming here. We don\u2019t know where else to gather,\u201d said Ramkaran Verma, a painter. <\/p>\n Spiralling fuel prices had pushed prices of construction material prompting builders to postpone projects, explained Akhtar Ahmed, a contractor. A truck-load of sand now costs twice as much, cement prices have climbed and steel rods become costlier too. \u201cLocal workers are costlier… investors also stare at bleak finances,\u201d he said. A few large-scale commercial projects, such as a 16-floor mall near the Habibganj railway station, had to push back deadlines. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n