Thiruvananthapuram, April 9 (IANS) Cement dealers in Kerala are now in dire straits as over a million cement bags are lying in shops and godowns, as all sorts of construction activities on account of coronavirus pandemic has come to a standstill.

The cement dealers are now trying to appeal to the cement companies to come to their help.

"The maximum time that a bag of cement remains in powder form is a month and after that it gets hardened and then it becomes of no use. We have approached cement manufacturers to come to our help. If something is not done immediately, it would be a huge loss for us," said a cement dealer.

In Kerala, apart from tourism and IT, the other major sector is the construction sector, which employs the highest number of workers.

--IANS sg/skp/