: The industrial belt comprising Eloor, Edayar and Kadungalloor is in deep crisis spelling trouble for both the political fronts as elections to the local bodies near Leading industrial units like Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore, Hindustan Insecticides Limited, Binani Zinc, Cochin Minerals and Rutiles, Periyar Chemicals and Indian Rare Earths as well as smaller units are in serious financial trouble.
The decline of the industrial units will be reflected in the coming elections to the local bodies, says K. N. Gopinath of the CPI (M), a veteran trade union leader.
P. M. Ayoob, outgoing chairman of the Eloor Municipality, said that the declining fortunes of the small and big industrial units is reflected in the economic condition of the industrial belt.
The Eloor municipality has seen serious erosion in its revenue as industrial units remain closed and buildings are dismantled, he said. There are around a thousand families in and around the industrial belt, who depended on Binani Zinc, said P. P. Joy, Congress worker and general secretary of Binani Zinc Employees’ Organisation. The unit has been closed for more than three months now.
Mr. Gopinath said the State government had not made any effort to get a promoter for the unit or to get the owner of the unit to restart production. The government has only denied permission to the promoters to wind up unit.
Crisis at units like HIL and IRE also means that the municipal authority will lose substantial revenue and will also be reflected in the economic activities in the area. Mr. Ayoob said that there were thousands of temporary and contract employees who are jobless now with the industrial units in trouble.
