Thousands in limestone units lose jobs

PIDUGURALLA (Guntur dist): Over 20,000 workers engaged in limestone pulverising units here have been rendered jobless as many units have closed down in the last two weeks. Another 5,000 workers are on the verge of losing employment as more units are likely to be shut.Stoppage of coal supplies from West Bengal and dumping of quality cem powder from Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan have badly affected the limestone industry in Piduguralla, known as lime city of Andhra Pradesh.As natural limestone is found in abundance in Piduguralla mandal, there are 150 pulverising units here which provide employment to 20,000 people and almost all the business in the mandal is linked to limestone production.Pulverising units produce cem powder, used as a mix in various paints with the raw limestone.These units need coal to produce the cem powder.As coal supplies from Zarina in West Bengal stopped, the units started using coal from Singareni Collieries which is comparatively of low calorific value.The pulverising industries need to use two quintals of coal of Singerani as against one quintal of the West Bengal coal. As a result the production cost of the cem powder increased by `1,000 per quintal.Meanwhile, industries from Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu started pumping quality cem powder into the market and the demand for the cem powder from Piduguralla fell sharply. These factors forced the owners of the pulverising units to stop production.According to information, the eight licensed liquor shops in the town and the 80 belt shops together used to make a business of `50 lakh a day, but in the last couple of weeks their sales have come down to `25 lakh a day, indicating that main clientele, workers in limestone units, did not have money to buy their drinks.Speaking to Express, Pulverising Industry Association president Chintha Venkat Reddy said production at the 150 units and 2,003 quarries came to a grinding halt rendering thousands of workers jobless.Another industry owner, Kota Subba Rao said the industry never witnessed this sort of crisis in the last 150 years.A 60-year-old worker, K Sithamma said the workers were finding it difficult even to provide two square meals to their family members.The various banks which had borrowed about `250 crore to the industry are also worried about the repayment.