Industry leaders, coming to terms with Rs 400 crore loss, are now bracing themselves for an even bigger fallout: The effect of lockdown on small factories.
"In a day or two, the situation will worsen when spare parts don't arrive at the factories that have to meet daily targets,'' says Dhananjay Bhele, president of Ambad Industrial Manufacturers' Association (AIMA).
While some were unskilled workers on construction sites, many were semi-skilled who worked on the assembly line in steel and automotive industries, and are not easy to replace. However, both the AIMA and the Nashik Industrial Manufacturers' Association (NIMA) have, for the last three days, been appealing to local youth to come forward if they want to "replace'' the migrant workers.
"Not one has applied,'' says Bhele. It's clear that not all incidents of violence were orchestrated by the MNS; many local trouble-makers took advantage of the atmosphere of tension to chase and beat up vegetable-vendors, smug in the belief that their individual offences would get absorbed in the overall MNS lawlessness.
