Farmers Movement Archive

Traders rue slump in biz due to closure of highways

NEW DELHI: With the highway shut down by farmers sitting on protest at the Singhu border for over a month and a half now, there’s resentment brewing among businessmen whose daily activities are being affected. On Friday, TOI visited the Kundli Industrial Area in Singhu village, which has units for jeans, steel, plastic and other items, and spoke to factory executives about the slowdown in operations since the closure of the main road there. Sachin, a supervisor at a steel factory, said, “Our major problem is our workers reporting late for work due to the road closure and the diversions they have to take. Our factories have already been hit by the Covid restriction and now there is hardly any movement of trucks on the highway. It is not that we feel the farmers are doing anything wrong, but their agitation has created a genuine problem for us.” Apart from the factories, the numerous hardware shops in Dahiya Market are suffering very low sales. “It is easy for the cars to take a detour through the village, but big trucks can’t enter the bylanes. In any case, the lanes are obstructed by people parking their vehicles there,” noted Hari Chand, 70, a hardware seller. “The traffic congestion also prevents trucks carrying our raw materials from reaching here. They only manage to arrive intermittently. Because of this, the regular customers, the Delhi factory owners, have stopped coming.” Chand pointed out that he has little income but constant costs, including a rent of Rs 35,000 for his 40-year-old shop and Rs 15,000 as salaries to three employees every month. “I also have to pay the electricity bill,” he said. "The sales are down, but we keep quiet since we don’t see a solution ahead.” Varun Tayal, 38, runs his business next to Chand’s shop. He travels 22km from Sonipat each day to sell switchboards, cables, pipes and other items. “I pay a rent of Rs 50,000 for my shop and there are employee wages too. My labourers from UP also need money to survive, but when the shop itself is not doing well, there is little I can do,” sighed Tayal. Also in dire straits are the eateries on the highways, where business is not as rosy as it was 50 days ago. The eatery owners grumbled about their helplessness, saying they aren’t opposed to the agitation of the farmers, but don’t know what to do to survive. “Some of the protestors use our eatery areas to sleep, but we don’t turn them away because we know they are protesting for their rights,” said a restaurant owner, who did not wish to be named. “Once in a while, people visiting the Singhu border protest site use our toilets and stop to eat something. That’s all the business we have. The highway shutting down has hit our operations.”

The Times of India

2021-01-16

Delhi