Daijiworld News Network - Mangalore (VM)
Mangalore, Oct 12: The week-long bundh has hit the business fraternity of Mangalore really hard. The losses incurred so far are announced to be Rs 1.60 crore. But this figure only represents the physical loss of property, while the damage in terms of man-hours lost, business lost etc could be Rs 200 crore, according to business sources.
"Our businesses have been badly affected by the bundh. A modest estimate is that everyday we incurred a loss of Rs 10 lac in connection with excise duty. Hotel Moti Mahal had no customers and the rooms remained vacant," said A J Shetty, speaking exclusively to Daijiworld.com.
The restaurant had no visitors. However, one has to pay the staff their salaries and incur maintenance costs. The A J Hospital had to run as medical services are vital. Amidst hostile environment, providing medical services 24/7 calls for extra expenses.
"The bundh could have been averted if people had reacted intelligently. The message that we have passed to NRI investors is that Mangalore is a place affected by communal tension. If such incidence repeat investors will hesitate to invest in Mangalore," Shetty said further.
A member of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industries who spoke to Daijiworld said that trade had been affected from October 1. Except for October 3, the rest of the days in this month were either holidays or days when regular business was marred by bundh or violence. To the end the show was the curfew which punctured the entire system.
However, the aggregate figure is likely to increase by several lacs as a number of people are yet to register complaints of property loss while in many other cases, the damage is yet to be assessed.
Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) president Capt John Prasad Menezes put the loss at Rs 9 to Rs 10 crore a day.
“The worst affected were the daily wage labourers, including beedi workers, cashew factory workers and loaders, among others,” he said.
KCCI's immediate past president A Srinivas Rao echoed the same views. Besides placing the estimate of losses at Rs 200 crore, he too expressed apprehensions that prospective investors could have second thought after this development. At the same time, he said, if everyone refuses to shut down business, the small number of people calling for bundhs can be contained.
On the contrary, the big industries like Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers (MCF) and New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) were not affected as they have townships and the employees need not have to come out of their premises.
Another progressive entrepreneur told Daijiworld that the bundh might have entailed Rs 20 crore loss every day. A few industrialists who were planning to invest in Mangalore may think twice now, he added.
The tourism industry too bore the brunt of the bundh as many of the tourists who arrived at tourist spots were caught unawares as the curfew was suddenly imposed after violence broke out in the district on October 5.
Updated at 9.30 am
Mangalore: Bundh Loss Estimated at Rs 1.60 crore
Oct 12: The total loss incurred due to the bundh and the riots in Mangalore and around has been estimated at Rs 1.60 crore loss. Will this be paid by Bajrang Dal the organization which called the bundh?
We have to wait and watch as the state government is yet to announce its decision on the same.
Meanwhile the highlights of the bundh are as follows
• 94 vehicles damaged
• 62 shops damaged
• 223 cases registered
• 2 persons dead
• 136 injured
• 406 arrested and
• 257 in preventive custody
In the political drama which has been set rolling by the ‘ace’ politicians, the ‘said’ resignation of in-charge minister for DK district B Nagaraj Shetty has been denied by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.
The CM who visited city on Wednesday night was taken up by surprise when the press persons inquired about Shetty’s resignation. “I am not aware of it,” he said. “It is you (press persons) who are telling me of his resignation,” Kumaraswamy informed.
However situation in Mangalore has attained normalcy. Only a few isolated cases of police misbehaviour have been reported
Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa visited A J Hospital in Mangalore on Wednesday and held a meeting at the Circuit House with district and police officials.
Meanwhile 12 persons have been arrested for the attack on ambulance carrying nine persons to Bajpe airport.
The skirmish which exploded into a communal clash affecting life and property in Mangalore has finally been controlled with the help of a police force of over 3,000 personnel.
Daijiworld Special Stories on Bundh and Curfew
Mangalore Bundh and Violence - Complete Coverage with Photo Albums
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