SWABI, Jan 14: The continuous loadshedding of electricity and gas has forced the industrial units in the Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate to close one shift during their daily operation, affecting the only source of income of many labourers.

The labourers said that after the prolonged loadshedding of electricity, the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) stopped the gas supply on Friday evening, which was not restored till Monday.

Waqar Ahmad, director administration of Gadoon Textile Mills, told this correspondent that during the past three weeks they had suffered a loss of Rs60 million. “The great problem is that we are competing with India and China in the international market. If we don’t meet the orders placed by the European counties on time, they would divert to the other countries,” he said. India had already exploited our weakness and now it had a golden opportunity to further create problems for Pakistani entrepreneurs in the international market, said another official of Gadoon Textiles.

Muhammad Azhar Shah, owner of Latif Shahkir Textile Mills, said that he was losing Rs1.4 million daily due to electricity and gas loadshedding, but the complete suspension of the latter pushed him to a very awkward situation. “We have 750 employees in our mills and if the situation does not improve in the next four or five days we don’t have any option but to fire all of them,” he said.Zahid Shah, owner of Royal Textile Mills and Sarhad Textile Mills, said that they were not in the position to employ workers as the whole industrial infrastructure was at the brink of collapse. However, he hoped that the situation would be improved in the next few days.

Most of the industrialists said that they did not fire the workers because they expected that the situation would become normal. The sources said that the workers were not laid off so far because if the situation gets better after their expulsion then the industrialists would beg for their returning. If the situation does not improve many workers would face the expulsion, the sources added.

Most of the technical employees belong to the Punjab province and once they left the industry it would collapse automatically, said the sources.

The industrialists said that out of 450 units only 50 units were functional in which about 20 units were running round the clock before the electricity and Sui gas loadshedding. The remaining units remain operational according to the demands placed to them by their clients.

When contacted, GCCI President Fazal Amin said that the units which did not work round the clock might be closed down because they were already in losses due to location disadvantage of the Gadoon Estate.Meanwhile, it was learnt the electricity loadshedding would be reduced to three hours from five hours per day.

A delegation of industrialists from Gadoon also called on caretaker Chief Minister Shamsul Mulk on Sunday and apprised him of their difficulties. According to sources the chief minister told the delegation that the situation would be improved soon.