Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Oct 20: The Industrial Units operating from the Food Park in Doabgah Sopore in North Kashmir’s Baramulla district are suffering huge losses due to the absence of electricity while several other units have already shut down.
Those who are running several units at the Food Park which earlier used to be known as Industrial estate said that they used to have a dedicated electricity line, however, over the past some time, the line has been used for electricity distribution to the several villages, jeopardising the business of the industrial units as the curtailment of electricity increased.
The industrial estate houses more than 30 units while several have shut down due to the erratic electric supply. “Many issues have been created for us over last some time; while we should be getting 16 hours supply on daily basis, we are being provided electricity for just 5-6 hours per day-which is further aggravating the situation for us,” Shahrukh Hameed who is running an industrial unit. Click here to watch video
There are also a number of cold storage units functioning at the food park while the owners of these cold storage units told Excelsior that there is every chance that the produce that has been kept in storage in these units will suffer damage and will result in further losses.
“We had a dedicated line and we used to be supplied with sufficient electricity, but of late, the things have gone south and we are facing a wide range of issues,” the owners of the industrial units said.
Notably, the Industries department has paid for the dedicated line while, as per the agreement the industrial estate was supposed to have round the clock electric supply, however, the ground situation is quite opposite to it even as the local industry at the Industrial Estate Sopore is at the verge of collapse.
The operators of the units functional at the industrial estate said that there are over 150 working in various capacities and with the callous attitude of the PDD, their employment is in danger.
Also, it is to be noted here that the entire Food Processing industry from north Kashmir including that of spices is entirely based at the Food Park Doabgah.
While the SIDCO which is operating the Industrial Estate in Sopore said that they have got nothing to do with the matter, the officials said that the PDD needs to be held accountable for the matter. “Keeping in view the increased demand, the PDD is working towards ensuring 16 hour supply per day,” Muhammad Ashraf Beigh of SIDCO Sopore said.
In the meantime, the Chief Engineer, PDD has asked the Superintending Engineer, Sopore to look into the matter so that the issues faced by the industrialists are resolved.
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