Silenced powerlooms of Bhiwandi want their voice heard in Delhi

BHIWANDI: The powerlooms of Bhiwandi are falling silent one by one, the industry unable to bear the heavy losses that its representatives say are the result of GST, an unfavourable garment import-export policy, yo-yoing yarn prices and rise in electricity bills. In the Bhiwandi Lok Sabha constituency, 2 lakh powerloom units — one electric-powered machine is called a unit by the industry — in various production facilities have gone cold over the past couple of years.

Those who depend on the industry say they will vote for the candidate who can bring the Manchester of Asia back to life. Today, only 7 lakh powerloom units are operational, providing 2 lakh people employment.
Bhiwandi Lok Sabha constituency is in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and has six assembly segments, Kalyan West, Shahapur and Murbad, Bhiwandi East, Bhiwandi West and Bhiwandi Rural. It is the three assembly segments with Bhiwandi in their name that are home to powerloom; over 8 lakh of the nearly 18.9 lakh voters in the LS constituency live here.
As a result, both sitting BJP MP Kapil Patil and Congress candidate Suresh Taware have designed their campaigns around the concerns of the powerloom industry.
Fajil Ansari, an owner of powerlooms, president of Nizampura Textile Association and convenor of Bhiwandi Development Front, said only once in five years did MP Patil put forth a question on the dying powerloom industry of Bhiwandi. “He failed to do anything and we decided not to vote for him,” he said.
Powerloom owners complained that their problems remained despite textiles minister Smriti Irani visiting Bhiwandi twice and assuring them of corrective measures.
“The main reason behind shutting down powerlooms are GST, as many deals in the industry are done on kaccha bills, and lack of government control on yarn prices, which in a day go up and down like the share market,” Sharadram Shejpal, spokesman of the Bhiwandi Powerloom Association, said.
The competition from cloth imported from China at very low prices is another major worry, said Shejpal.
Industry owners also claim their electricity bills are too high under the private Torrent power company.
Ansari said if the family of those employed by powerlooms was to be considered, then the industry feeds 8 lakh people. “In the past two years, thousands of people have been rendered unemployed as 2 lakh powerloom units shut down in the city,” he said.
Another powerloom owner, Ambar Ansari, said it was do or die. “This time we have decided to vote only for the candidate who will assure us a resolution to the powerloom industry issues, because if the industry doesn’t survive, how will we?” he said.