Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

Construction activities
It is easy to see that a large amount of commercial activities have concentrated in the
areas of building construction, household articles and various kinds of education and
training. Trade in building materials are obviously related to the large amount of
construction activities going on in the area, in the form of shopping complexes,
multistoried 'towers’ to two storied palatial houses being built everywhere. We will be
able to get nearly everything required for the construction of a building, from stones,
hollow bricks, tiles, cement, red oxide, marble, mosaic, equipment for interior decoration,
paints, furniture, electrical equipments and household goods in the same area, and there is
very little need to go to Calicut or any nearby city for the purchase of these items.
Construction work has also been resulting in the growth of number of professions, stone
cutting, sand mining, plumbing, electrification work, laying the foundation of a building,
building the walls, concrete work, digging wells and also accessory work like laying
gardens, nurseries, and also production and sales of showy plants like crotons, ferns,
orchids, and anthurium. The vast majority of the labor force in the area has shifted to
construction labor. Our observations regarding colonies showed that most of the families
which did agricultural labor earlier have now shifted to construction labor. The reasons
given for the shift was very simple. Agricultural labor fetches the daily wages of Rs. 125
to Rs. 150 per day, and is mainly seasonal labor, whereas the construction worker gets a
daily wage of Rs.175 to Rs.200 and gets work almost every day. The construction work
also fits the existing pattern of production and consumption. Agricultural worker can get
his regular wages only after hard bargaining, as the farmer tries to reduce the costs
continuously. But the person who constructs the building is not bothered as much about
the costs but the speed and efficiency with which the work is carried out. Construction
work is not a lifetime activity except for the building contractor and laborer. For the
others who construct a house, they will do it once in a life time, is a use value, and hence