ONGOLE: The global economic meltdown is slowly but surely engulfing our shores. A lot of attention seems to be on crumbling corporates, but what has gone unnoticed is the plight of the manufacturing sector. In our own State, Markapuram in Prakasam district, famous for its slate industry, is in the throes of a crisis.
A cursory glance at the following statistics is enough to make one wonder if we are in the US. Of the total 130 slate units, 120 have been shut down. 124 quarries, which supply raw material, have also downed their shutters.
Unofficial estimates put the figure of workers, thrown out of employment as a direct result of this downturn, at over 20,000.
Of the 80,000 metric tonnes of slates produced here, 80 per cent used to be exported to the US and the remaining 20 per cent to Europe. Due to declining exports, the production has come down to 10 per cent.
Over 600 trucks used to transport slates to the Chennai port every month. That number came down to just about 80 in October.
The important varieties of slates usually exported to the US include Avatam, Vijay Gold, Green and Pink. They are mostly used for interior decorations in the US. Speaking to Express, Varalakshmi Slate Industries managing director G Gupta Prasad explained, ‘‘as the slate industry depends solely on the US market, recession in that country has drastically affected our exports.’’ K Muniyappa, a production executive who lost his job due to the economic crisis, said, ‘‘there is no guarantee that the industry will recover in two years. Thousands of workers have already migrated to other areas in search of employment.’’Twenty colonies, once populated by the industry workers, now wear a deserted look as most of them have migrated along with their families.
