Mira-Bhayander units face closure

Industries hurt by high octroi, poor infrastructure

Octroi collection by private contractors in the Mira-Bhayender belt is nothing less than a harassment, allege small-scale units in the region.

Despite apprising the Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC) of the deterioration of this industrial belt, the civic body has not taken any action, they say.

As a result, 40 per cent of the units located here have either shut shop or shifted to octroi-free zones nearby.

Last year, MBMC awarded the contract to collect octroi at Rs 60 crore to private contractors. Industrialists here allege that these contractors are charging far more than what they give a receipt for. Octroi rates ranges from 1.25 per cent to 3.5 per cent of the value of transported goods, they said.

"Our goods carriers are detained at nakas for no reasons. Sometimes it takes days before we get clearance," said

P M Pinto, one of the founder members of the Mira Bhayander Small Scale Industries Association (MBSSIA). There are around 22 octroi posts in the Mira-Bhayander area with main naka number 7 close to the Western Express Highway.

Sources say the civic body has not even laid down rules and regulations governing octroi and is still following the earlier norms which were devised when it was a council. "How could they invite tenders without even a set of rules in place?" said Pinto.

Industrialists say that the contractors simply refuse to accept the authenticity of handwritten and typed bills. "They are ready to accept only computerised bills," said Moti Gehi, vice-president, MBSSIA. There are over 1,000 units and the majority is engineering units.

Many stainless steel and sari printing units have closed down and many are shifted their bases. Gehi's own unit is almost on the verge of closure. Even Awaaz "" a quarterly journal which was published by the industrial units, has stopped publishing since 2000.

To add to the troubles, the units here do not have the facility of Employees state insurance scheme (ESIS). Over 400 units are registered under the scheme in Mira-Bhayander.

"The registered workers are paying 1.75 per cent as worker's contribution to Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and in addition to that there is 4.75 per cent as employer's share which has been remitted to the corporation for the last 25 years," said Gehi.

However, there are no ESIC hospitals in the area and not a single medicine shop selling ESIC medicines. "In case of any accident, we have to rush to the ESIC hospital at Kandivli which is 11 km away," said Gehi.

"We want the civic body to provide a healthcare centre which is a basic need. It is a township now and not a village anymore," he said.

At present, there is only one primary healthcare centre in the area.