KOCHI: Directly employing close to 5,000 employees in 300-odd units, one of the largest industrial townships in the state situated on the banks of the Periyar at Edayar bore the brunt of the deluge when it consumed around 70 industries in its path.
A month later, the companies face gross neglect from the government as a majority of them are yet to become functional. The preliminary report submitted by the Edayar Small Scale Industries Association (ESSIA) to the Industries Department had intimated an immediate loss of Rs 75 crore as floodwater washed away tonnes of stock, submerged machinery and crippled business.
“While the state authorities are yet to make an official visit, a lack of interim financial assistance and interest-free loans have made it difficult for small-scale business ventures to cope up with losses,” said ESSIA president Sojan Joseph. District Collector K Mohammed Y Safirullah said the government is expected to soon issue directions regarding the policy on assistance to be provided to industries.
The losses run up to Rs 20 crore for many units and only three to five have restarted production fully, as on Monday. Though insurance firms have finished their spot surveys, any interim compensation to restart production is yet to be issued to any affected industry functioning at Edayar.
“The delay in restarting production is primarily financial as small-scale industries are unable to absorb the losses without assistance. Also, a lot of industries were functioning devoid of any insurance cover. Financial assistance from the state is their last resort,” said Sojan.
Njavallil Latex among worst-hit
Njavallil Latex, which counts its losses in excess of Rs 15 crore, is one of the worst affected in the region. “We saw our embankment wall collapse, raw materials getting washed away and severe damage being done to the plant’s infrastructure,” said Njavallil Latex general manager Thomas Mathew. He said the insurance company finished loss assessment only the previous week. The company estimates that it will take them two more weeks to fully restore production.
Saji Mathews, DGM at Sud-Chemie India, said they were lucky to be fairly insulated as the premises was placed on a higher ground. “We saw the water level rising up to 3 ft. The same damaged most of our perimeter wall, electrical pumps and a few other machineries,” said Saji. Losses run up to `50 lakh and the company is in the process of claiming the same from insurance companies, he said.