Farmers’ protest: Industrial shipments to Ludhiana delayed as trucks pull over
No dispatch of goods was done, while workers could not reach the factories due to blocking of the roads by farmers, rued city-based industrialists.
In the wake of farm protests, industrial activities in the city took a hit as transportation come to a halt on Friday.
No dispatch of goods was done, while workers could not reach the factories due to blocking of the roads by farmers, rued city-based industrialists.
Some manufacturers even kept their units closed out of fear, while most were operational with closed doors.
They said the deliveries have been delayed and if the protests continued in this manner, the industry would suffer losses worth crores of rupees on a daily basis.
All Industries and Trade Forum president Badish Jindal said, “Daily works were affected due to the protest as no goods were dispatched and a large number of bank transactions could not take place. Factory workers could not reach in time due while many didn’t come at all. If the protests go on the industry would suffer daily loss around ₹1,500 crore.”
However, few industrial associations also backed the farmers’ protest stating that they are the backbone of the state and needed support at this time.
Janta Nagar small scale manufacturers’ association head Jaswinder Thukral said, “No doubt the industrial activities have been affected by the protests, but we stand by the farmers.”
The chairman of All India Motor Transport Congress and Ludhiana Goods Transport Association, Charan Singh Lohara, said trucks remained off the road on Friday as the transporters had earlier extended support to the farmers. The services would resume from Saturday.
However, Pankaj Sharma, general secretary of Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings, said, “The administration supported the industry, thus factories were able to operate normally despite the agitation. Though the dispatch of industrial goods could take place due to the suspension of transport, the same would be covered in the coming days.”