MNS violence: North Indians flee Nashik, industries hit

The escalation in violence against North Indians in Nashik has prompted many of them to flee the city. North Indians are leaving the city by every possible means -- buses, trains and even private vehicles.

An estimated 10,000 people have left the city in the last 48 hours.

On Wednesday, the Nashik railway station was flooded with migrants throughout the day and there was hardly any place to even stand on the platforms. Railway officials said that such a large crowd of people has been witnessed for the first time since the Sinhasta Kumbha Mela in 2003-2004.

Long queues of people were seen at the ticket windows. Trains such as the Bhagalpur Express, Patna Express, Superfast Janta, Gorakhpur via Lucknow Mahanagar and other North India bound trains were overcrowded with the migrants.

However, the local industries have been hit by the large-scale migration, especially in the Ambad Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation area. Nearly 40 per cent small and medium industries in the Ambad industrial area have been closed due to this migration.

''We are worried about completing the March-end schedule of production and fulfilling orders. There are solutions for financial and natural crisis but we do not have any solution for this unexpected crisis,'' Ambad Industries and Manufacturers Association President Dhanraj Bele told UNI.

''We are worried about replacing the workers and training them. Though the production has come to a standstill, we have to pay telephone, electricity and water bills. We cannot avoid these expenditures,'' Bele said.

He said if the same situation continued for three four more days, it will affect even the Marathi workers as the production will come to a standstill and the other workers will have no work.

Though these small industries are ancillary units, they provide material to big industries such as Mahindra and Mahindra and Crompton & Greaves. The present crisis will affect the functioning of the big industries. Bele estimated that the loss to the industries, due to the prevailing crises, will amount to over Rs 500-700 crore.

Meanwhile, heavy industries such as the steel industry in Satpur, Ambad and Sinnar are also facing a similar problem as most of their workers are from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.