Construction Season

It seems that we're at the height of construction season. Personally, I think "winter" (December through February) would be a much better time to do construction -- cool evenings and moderate days. But in the last week or so, it's been non-stop construction on the roads and bungalows in the neighborhood. I guess the realization is that monsoon is just about upon us. Everything needs to be fixed before monsoon starts, so the jackhammers and saws have been working non-stop. The noise -- added to the usual background of trains and traffic -- can make it impossible to listen to anything on the radio (computer, that is) or watch a movie/TV show.

Our street is paved with brick, and all the little dips were dug up last week, filled with dirt and stone, then the pavers were put back in place.

One of our neighbors is re-doing their entire bungalow and property wall. Two other bungalows are also under major renovation. Because everything is made of concrete, it takes a jackhammer to remodel. And all the debris is carted off on the heads of women -- panful by panful. (Metal pans about 18" in diameter and about 4" deep.) Sand and fill rock is brought back the same way. The manual labor involved is astounding.

This is the bungalow that is under total renovation. It's been gutted, including the enclosing wall. The owner's said it's supposed to be completed in 15 days. So why did our empty bungalow take 4 months to re-do?

Another bungalow being worked on. The wall is down, and the tarps cover major exterior work.

Relatively small piles of debris -- brought panful-by-panful from the construction site across the road.

Right next to the debris piles are piles of crushed stone, sand, and bricks for the remodeling. Again, all these materials are carted across the street in pans on the heads of women.