E-Paper
No firms in Pune industrial belts ‘allowed’ to re-open
Permission will not be granted till May 3, says MIDC; unavailability of workers cited as another mitigating factor
As many as two lakh small and big industries located in Pune metropolitan region, comprising of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), remained shut despite a relaxation of lockdown rules by the state government on Monday.
According to Ajit Deshmukh, general manager, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), no permission will be granted to these companies to restart operations till May 3, as all the industrial areas fall under the category of containment zones and have been sealed.
The state government had announced partial lifting of lockdown in areas where there are few Covid-19 cases. This was aimed at restarting the business operations in safe industrial zones in the state of Maharashtra starting April 20.
However, many industries from Chakan and other industrial belts of Pune district remained closed in absence of permission from MIDC.
Unavailability of workers is another mitigating factor.
“The permission is not given as these industries fall under PMC and PCMC limits which have been declared as containment zones. Moreover, the workers who stay in the residential areas away from the industries will have to travel through the containment zones, an activity which has been banned under the Epidemic Control Act. We have also blocked the permission-related link on our websites. The companies will remain shut till May 3 as specified in the state government’s order,” said Deshmukh.
Dilip Batwal, secretary, federation of Chakan industries, said, “The district administration will allow us to resume operations if transportation is not involved. Making arrangements for accommodation, food and transportation of employees is not possible for all firms. We have no option but to wait till May 3. We had verbally requested the MIDC to make such arrangements for the labourers and workers, but they excused by stating that they do not have any infrastructure.”
Currently, only 567 companies are functioning, mostly dealing with pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
Deshmukh said that most of the industries are located in Pimpri, Chinchwad, Akurwadi , Bhosari industrial clusters besides big manufacturing units are located in Chakan, Ranjangaon and Hinjewadi.
For those industries in non-containment zones such as Chakan and Ranjangaon, the workers coming there, mostly stay in PMC and PCMC limits which have been announced as containment zones.
