“FACING CHALLENGES IS A WAY OF LIFE.”
Suhas Shridhar Deshpande
Project Manager, MCRP, Heavy Civil IC
Suhas Deshpande is playing his 3rd innings with L&T. He first joined the company in 1992 and remained on board till 1997, then returned to the fold in 2000 till 2005 and has re-joined in 2018. “During my association with L&T, I have been associated with several iconic projects like the nuclear power plant at Kaiga, the jetty at Rajula and the multi-purpose jetty for Adani at Mundra, Project Seabird Karwar, Shell Hazira, and currently, I am with the Mumbai Coastal Road Project- Pkg-1 as Project Manager.” A seasoned campaigner, he feels that “the only positive thing about my job is a sense of achievement at the end of each day and the satisfaction of having done a good day’s work.”
This positive approach to life has been tested in recent times due to the onslaught of the pandemic that has irrevocably changed lives and lifestyles, he points out. “At site, we worked on multiple fronts by identifying activities that had minimum human interface and mechanized as many activities as possible.” Apart from strictly following the Government protocols, the team has been seeking to vaccinate as many people, as quickly as possible. The lockdown proved to be a boon for them as the roads normally heavy with traffic were empty for free movement of reclamation material.
“Once the ground rules of functioning were laid and accepted, the systems started working by themselves,” he says. “Our client, MCGM, played a major role in issuing permits to various departments for movement of vehicles and declaring the project as one of national importance while our PMC helped us by accepting the lab results conducted at third party in their witness, instead of pressing for a particular laboratory.” While accommodating key workmen at site to avoid travel and keep work progressing was a capital move, monitoring and reporting of works were simplified to a great extent. “Our digital reporting helped to build confidence among the project stakeholders that things were moving in the right direction even during these difficult times.”
“Professionally, without an exception, I have always worked on unique projects or those being executed for the first time,” Suhas remarks, “and seeing a project completed despite numerous challenges gives one immense satisfaction. I also feel blessed that my family has been with me throughout this journey,” he shares with feeling, referring to his wife, Rani, who is a Social Entrepreneur and his two sons, Pratik and Siddharth. “Having them and my team with me is a wonderful feeling that you are never alone and my various stints with L&T and in other companies have taught me that facing challenges is a way of life,” he concludes on a pragmatic note.
“Our main task during the lockdown and even after the restrictions were lifted was to obtain permissions from the local authorities for emergency work permits, police permissions and emergency passes for the staff and workmen for work to continue at site,” shares Bhabani Sarkar from his L&T STEC JV Mumbai Metro Project, UGC-07, at Marol, Andheri East. “Every day, I attended office and visited our labour camps to educate the workmen about COVID-19 and support them to continue with day & night shifts.” The efforts of Bhabani and his team have borne fruit for there have been very few COVID cases among the staff and workmen and no fatality.
“It was a memorable moment for me when I received my Long Service Award after completing 15 years at L&T,” he says proudly, adding that he is extremely happy having been associated with this great organization and for the appreciation and support he has been receiving from both his seniors and colleagues. Bhabani’s decade and a half at L&T is spread across several projects; Mumbai Metro is his 8th.
When operations resumed at full throttle, Bhabani’s task was to mobilise subcontractors and workmen by arranging train/plane/ bus tickets from their native places to site. Since the underground metro section passes through the city’s congested roads, it was his responsibility to manage the Police, obey traffic rules and procure permissions to divert traffic. “By maintaining good relations with the authorities we were able to obtain most of the permissions in time saving the project from disruptions,” says a pleased Bhabani, who is also elated that he was able to arrange for workmen accommodation near the site despite it being in a residential & commercial area.
“We had frequent meetings on MS Teams, telephonic discussions and WhatsApp chats with the staff to work out the best solution,” he says. “Our effort was to have a positive mind and outlook to face the pandemic situation.”
Other efforts taken by Bhabani and team to prevent infections were distribution of Vitamin C tablets, lemon & other multi-vitamins, daily monitor oxygen levels & temperatures of both staff & workmen, arrange for doctors & nurses at the 24/7 medical facility, establish quarantine facilities, ensure disbursement of lockdown wages, put up awareness posters, organize RT-PCR & antigen tests and vaccination drives. “We even had thermal screening at all site locations that notifies the concerned site In-charge if any workman or staff is not wearing a mask at site,” he adds.
Hailing from Kolkata, Bhabani’s better half is Niharika, a homemaker, and they are blessed with a son, Shankha Deep. “I love listening to music and another memorable moment for me was when I purchased my dream car,” he says happily.
PASSING A VERY STERN LITMUS TEST
Ajit Kumar Pandey
Manager (HR), Heavy Civil IC
The responsibilities of HR Managers at sites in recent times have multiplied as they strive to help keep projects progressing. Ajit Kumar Pandey finds himself in a similar situation at the Mumbai Metro site. “In fact, it has been a baptism by fire of sorts for me for this is my first project posting,” he remarks, “prior to which I was at the Cluster Offices in Delhi & Mumbai looking after multiple projects across Northern & Western parts of India in the capacity of Cluster HR.” Describing the pandemic, Ajit says, “COVID-19 has been a very stern litmus test about our orientation towards employees in which managing people has become the sole focus whether it is about managing the pandemic or their mental frame of mind.”
To combat the adverse impact of the pandemic, Ajit and team had to hit at various fronts: handle labour migration, arrange transport facilities for staff & workmen, ensure appropriate COVID-19 behaviour and, “have frequent conversations and interactions with them to quell the fear and give them a sense of belief that there is light at the end of the tunnel,” he says, sounding philosophical. The COVID Response Team took on the onus of testing, tracing & treating while teams extended every support to keep workmen engaged and, in the mood, to work and the staff, sufficiently positive about the situation.
“We adopted the digital mode for meetings and communicating using various data sharing platforms to ease sharing of data,” Ajit mentions. “We conduct frequent meetings with the staff, Tunnel & Station Heads over MS Teams & WhatsApp Video to understand & fulfil their requirements to accelerate work.” The transition from office to work from home was smooth and the data of drawings, schedules, calendars, etc. stored on the cloud is easily accessible for all.
He is all praise for the top and senior management for their support, “because of which we were allowed to go the farthest limit possible to support staff, their family members & workmen during the crisis. We updated them daily, converted their suggestions into action and, most importantly, were given a free hand to manage the situation,” says Ajit, reflecting the confidence reposed in him.
Hailing from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, Ajit is married to Shilpi, who works as Manager Operations at Aditya Birla Capital and they are blessed with a 3-year-old son, Keshav. “I read non-fiction novels, listen to Ted Talks & motivational speakers and try various diet foods and methods to keep myself fit,” he laughs about his hobbies.
“My first sight of a TBM breakthrough was truly an awe-inspiring one to see the wonders that the combination of technology and human involvement can create,” he signs off in style.
TURNING CRISIS INTO OPPORTUNITY
At his Mumbai Metro line 3 Package 1 project, where from 2017 he has been working as a Planning Engineer, B Prannoy has been striving to solve the crisis called COVID-19. “With our construction activities at a critical juncture, disruptions due to labour shortage, lack of essential material and the inability of some of the staff to travel to site could not have come at a worse time,” he laments. Executing his second project for L&T after an earlier 3-year stint at his first project – CMC 1 in Delhi, since 2014 – 2017, Prannoy, along with his team members had to evolve strategies to stay ahead of the virus.
“Since the Maharashtra Government had permitted construction activities, there was no way progress could be compromised,” stresses Prannoy. “Out of 200-odd subcontractors contacted by us for mobilization, only 5 responded positively citing the high number of COVID cases in Mumbai as a deterrent for workmen returning.” Since factories around the country were shut, there was a shortage of material like tierods and chemicals, procured before the lockdown, that were running low on stocks, and as Prannoy adds, “we faced shortage of oxygen and stressed cash flow too.”
With the odds stacked against them, the team set about to turn the crisis into opportunities. They motivated the staff and workmen, augmented the number of buses for them, arranged for dedicated transportation for the workmen from their hometowns, and arranged for medical oxygen beds. “As we were unable to source material from other states, we looked at alternate options despite a slight increase in prices,” points out Prannoy. “Industrial oxygen was scarcely available during the second wave lockdown, so we purchased plasma cutting machines to expedite structural steel works. Importantly, to maintain cashflow, we negotiated with the client to change the payment breakup,sought, and obtained relief in terms of Bank Guarantees that was a huge relief.” Prannoy almost wipes his brow in relief.
“We were all in it together,” he reminds, “so we had frequent virtual meetings with site in-charges and subcontractors to identify and resolve problems and to monitor labour, we formed a task force. The HQ team helped, and my seniors guided me, to mobilize workmen by connecting me with various regional offices across India for overall coordination.” CCTV cameras helped Section In-charges, EHS Managers and other key site personnel to closely monitor site activities.
Hailing from the temple town of Tirupati, Prannoy, who is still single, loves to travel but the pandemic has disrupted his travel plans too.
“L&T provides several new opportunities to all for overall growth and development,” he says in conclusion, “and regular training and programmes for professional as well as personal wellbeing helps a lot.”
L&T IS A GREAT PLATFORM TO GROW
Dharmendra Kumar Shah
Manager (IR), Heavy Civil IC
There is clarity in the way Dharmendra Kumar Shah shares the various steps he and his team members have taken at their Mumbai Coastal Road Project to control the virus. “We coordinate with every department, meet regularly with the teams and all stakeholders, set clear deadlines, support transparency, review progress regularly, track weekly progress of work at site and ensure timely reporting of workmen at site and their productivity.”
He joined L&T in 2018 and his first project was the Underground Metro Rail Project at Ahmedabad after which he has moved to MCRP in July 2020 where his challenges have been novel, but he is yet enjoying his role declaring that “L&T is a great platform to grow!”
On special instruction from the client, the project did not have a complete shutdown though one of Dharmendra’s main tasks was to handle the BMC and Ward staff. “Mobilization of contractors and their workmen at site for various jobs, educating both the labour and staff to stay positive and calm during tough times, not to move outside and manage their movement within a city that was locked down,” were some of his other tough tasks. For the project to progress, labour was essential and hence a lot of time and effort were spent by the HR & IR teams to convince workmen to stay put at the camps, motivate them to work, and at the same time, remobilize fresh labour.
“Labour mobilization within the stipulated time was critical and we had to complete their screening and induction within a very short time frame,” says Dharmendra, sharing his pressures. Testing and vaccinating the staff and workmen were other tall tasks that involved organizing camps for RTPCR tests for newly mobilized workmen and identifying people above and below the age of 45 to be given the jab. “Till date totally 2,690 of our workmen and staff have been vaccinated at site free of cost,” he declares proudly.
Technology has been a huge help for Dharmendra and his team during these times. “We had registered the workmen and staff online to schedule their vaccinations, enrolled every workman in our biometric system and monitor them through our CCTV cameras,” he mentions.
On his personal front, Dharmendra hails from Shaktinagar in the district of Sonebhadra in Uttar Pradesh. His life partner is JyotiRani, who is a homemaker, and they are blessed with a son, Arnav, who’s birth in 2011 is one of his life’s most memorable moments. “Another was getting my first job placement after completing MBA,” he laughs, adding that he loves watching and playing cricket when he finds the time for them.
When activities at the Mumbai Coastal Road Project suddenly halted due to the lockdown, Sohan Kumar and team had several issues to address urgently. Later, when the client, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, gave the green signal for the project to resume operations while the rest of the city remained locked down, they had a fresh set of challenges. “Our major milestone was to get the entire team including staff and workmen vaccinated,” says a determined Sohan. “I took this up on a war-footing and drawing help from various quarters, I am happy to state that presently, everyone at site have been vaccinated,” he smiles triumphantly.
Having started his innings with L&T with the GCT batch of 2012, Sohan has had two previous assignments before joining MCRP. The first was at DMRC CC-06 in the accounts department handling the responsibilities of cashier & subcontractor billing and later at DMRC CC-77 taking care of both Accounts & Admin.
“Availability of workmen at site in line with the project’s asking rate was our next most critical aspect for without the requisite resources, it would be extremely difficult to meet our timelines,” Sohan shares seriously. A dedicated task force was formed to tackle this issue. The area wise requirement was worked out in consultation with the site teams and workmen were mobilized accordingly, with progress monitored real time. “We actively coordinated with our subcontractors too to bring the workmen, who were willing, from their native places.”
The team had dedicated camp attendants to meet the requirements of workmen in terms of provisions, first aid, PPE, maintaining hygiene, creating a bio bubble, arranging for adequate transport from camp to site and back, having a doctor on call 24/7 and tie-ups with the nearby hospitals for health check-up of workmen in case of emergencies. “All our activities were well planned, and daily reviews ensured that there was no shortfall on compliances with respect to safety,” he says. “Personally, I have enjoyed the freedom to take critical decisions as per the situation and the feeling of being part of a team. We are working with the confidence of warriors with a positive mindset, ready to face new challenges every day.” One can almost sense steel in his voice.
On his personal front, Sohan hails from Indore in Madhya Pradesh, is married to Reena, who is a homemaker, and they are blessed with a son, Priyansh. “Holding him in my arms for the first time has been my life’s most joyful moment,” he says with pure delight. “I love travelling, cooking and exploring new places and I try them out on weekends.”