Rain fury hits industrial production, damages crops

Torrential rains have caused several companies to shut their plants in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, while kharif crops at several places have been damaged.

Larsen & Toubro Ltd has shut a plant in Hazira, Gujarat, due to heavy rains. "There is no flooding at the plant, but we have canceled the second shift and have asked employees to go home," MV Kotwal, L&T's executive vice-president, said.

But, Reliance Industries' 660,000-barrels-per-day Jamnagar refinery was operating normally, as were its petrochemicals complexes in Gujarat.

Sirpur Paper Mills Ltd (SPML) and the ITC's Bhadrachalam paper plant, both in the North Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh, suspended production for a couple of days following flooding of the river Godavari.

Though SPML, located in Adilabad district, has restarted production from yesterday after the water level in Godavari receded, the ITC's plant has suspended production from yesterday, with the river at Bhadrachalam flowing at 66 feet, 13 feet above the danger mark of 53 feet.

According to SPML President SK Khare, more than the production loss "" about 400 tonnes of paper worth about Rs 40 lakh, the material loss was huge. "Insurance companies are now assessing the damage," Khare told Business Standard.

Chief Executive of ITC Limited Paperboards and Specialty Paper Division Pradeep Bhobale also said the production loss at the Bhadrachalam plant was insignificant. With the flood situation easing a bit and water level in Godavari receding, he was hopeful of restarting the plant's operations in a day or two.

Another major paper mill in the state, AP Paper Mills Limited (APPML), continued production though the flood situation threatened to disrupt the supply of raw material.

"We have been able to manage the situation as we had enough raw material in store," APPML Executive Director RC Mall said. APPML is located at Rajahmundry in East Godavari district of coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Though rains have subsided in the state since yesterday, Godavari and its tributaries continued to be in spate due to rains in the neighbouring states of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.

Torrential rains since Thursday last, triggered by deep depression in Bay of Bengal, claimed 63 lives in the state, apart from causing extensive damage to crops in around 2.5 lakh acres.

Over 600 villages have been flooded and 3 lakh people have been evacuated to safer places.