80 factories, 35 construction projects get go-ahead to resume ops in Gurugram industrial areas

At least 80 industries, 35 construction projects and 10,000 workers have been allowed to resume work this week. Development follows announcement of standard operating

At least 80 industries, 35 construction projects and 10,000 workers have been allowed to resume work this week. Development follows announcement of standard operating procedures (SOPs) announced by the state government on April 19 to reopen economic zones.

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The administration has allowed workers to cycle or ride a motorcycle to work if they stay within a five-kilometre radius of their workplace. For others, the employers will have to apply for to the administration for transport, officials said.

In Gurugram, around 1,100 applications from industries and 150 applications for construction projects were received on the Saral portal till Friday.

“Around 80 applications for resuming industry operations and 35 for construction projects, by government and private developers, were approved by Friday evening. The volume of applications is high and we are approving them only after proper scrutiny of the documents uploaded on a first-come, first-service basis. Applicants must read the application criteria properly and upload the SOP accordingly. In absence of these, applications are being rejected,” VS Kundu, GMDA chief executive officer and chief coordinator of Covid-19 response in Gurugram, said.

Given the volume of applications being received from industries across the district, government said norms are being relaxed and their officials across departments, such as Industry, labour and the Haryana state industrial infrastructure development corporation (HSIIDC), were involved 24x7 in scrutiny of documents.

“Travelling norms are being relaxed. Cycle and bike travel in 5km radius of the factory has been allowed for workers as in maximum industrial locations workers normally reside in nearby villages and, for them, industry owners need not provide additional transport facility, as was mandated under government guidelines currently in place. Beyond this range of 5km, industry owners will have to arrange transport and government has decided to provide its buses. Industry owners, through their associations, will send requirements to local administration,” HSIIDC chief coordinator Sunil Sharma said.

The 80 industrial units that have received sanction are in Manesar, Udyog Vihar and Sector 37.

“Government is currently allowing resumption of work in approved (regulated) industrial zones. In the entire state, 850 industries had been granted approval, as on April 24, and around 61,000 movement passes had been issued. The scrutiny of documents is underway in every district,” said Sharma.

Those who got permission are to resume operations over the next couple of days.

Rakesh Vohra, Sector 37-based industry owner, said, “Ours is packaging business and we will currently work with only seven workers. I applied on April 20 and I got approval on Friday morning.”

Sanjiv Puri, Udyog Vihar-based industry owner who is in the garment business, said, “We got permission on Friday, but we have to see our staff/workers are available and they are in a position to resume work. All this will take a few days.”

The industry owners in non-confirming zones such as Kadipur, Daulatabad, Basai and elsewhere will have to wait till the lockdown is lifted.

“We are small-scale industry owners and we have been neglected on many fronts, and for long. We have no water, sewer etc; we have been fighting for these basic facilities for a long time. Currently, our operations are not even being considered by the government. This, after we applied for permission,” Kadipur-based industry owner Sanjiv Bansal said.