The State government has been conducting a survey on sick industries in the Srikakulam district where many major firms downed shutters due to various reasons.
Rajam, considered as industrial town of the district, has lost its sheen with the closure of many cement, steel and jute industries in the last few years.
Many other industries located in Ponduru, Pydibhimavaram, Palasa and Tekkali also stopped the production.
Power consumption
District Collector K. Dhananjaya Reddy, who heads Industrial Promotion Board in the district, has suggested the Industries Department to take the suggestions of various firms so that their ideas and proposals could be incorporated in the survey report.
The survey being done by different teams is expected to be completed by the month-end. Revival of the industries is being sought by many trade unions and other organisation to ensure livelihood for the workers. The survey teams will take the support from electricity department also to know the power consumption.
Srikakulam Industries Department General Manager B. Gopala Krishna said that power consumption data in the last five years would be vital since it would indicate whether the production was affected or not in industrial sector.
Distress migration
“Drop in power consumption in the respective industries will certainly enable us to know the severity of sickness. Then, we will try to know the grievances of those firms. After compilation of data, we will send a detailed report to the government which may extend its helping hand for the revival of the company,” said Mr. Gopala Krishna while speaking to The Hindu.
An NGO ‘Parivartan Trust’ head and AITAM College professor Chintada Ravikumar said that closure of Concast Ferro Industry and Cooperative Sugar factory in Amadalavalasa mandal had forced hundreds of people to migrate to other areas. “The State government is conducting many summits to attract investments. But it has shown little interest to protect the existing industries. At least now, it planned to take up a survey. We hope it will pave the way for revival of sick units,” he added.
CITU State vice-president D.Govinda Rao said that the government should encourage small-scale units and eco-friendly industries instead of trying to establish pharmaceutical and other polluted firms in the district.
