Traders worried as transportation hit

The movement of industrial goods has been adversely affected in Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, Kala Amb and Parwanoo owing to the suspension of road/rail movement on the National Highway-1 by the agitating Jat community.

Terming it a worrisome situation, Arun Rawat, former chairman, CII, Himachal chapter, said the inventory had been exhausted as no raw material could be transported for the past about three days, adding that the production activities would be impacted from tomorrow.

Impact of strike on movement of goods

He said since both the rail and road traffic had been halted, the industry could neither procure raw material nor could it send finished goods to various states. “Since Himachal is not a consuming state, all goods are sold to various states across the nation,” he said. Rawat said sending goods by air was not a viable option as it was too expensive. He added that the export orders which were time-bound would suffer the most.

Satish Goyal, president, Himachal Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Kala Amb, said problems were being encountered while sending goods and though some other routes were being used, the situation was still tense and investors did not want to take any risk.

Rakesh Bansal, general secretary, Parwanoo Industries Association, said daily commuters from Panchkula and surrounding areas to various industrial destinations of Himachal were being affected. He said if the agitation continued, they would be forced to stay home.

Tajinder Goyal, state president, Laghu Udyog Bharti, said since all goods were transported from the National Highway-1, the investors were not keen on sending their goods in view of the agitation.

He said trucks were being stopped at Jaipur and Gujarat and no one wanted to risk goods worth Rs 30-35 lakh.JS Kang, factory manager of an electrical devices manufacturing unit, said goods were not being transported and raw material was not being received.

Vehicles carrying goods have been stopped at various destinations in Haryana, including Sonipat. He said the truck drivers said the tyres had been deflated by the agitators.

Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com/