SURAT, Sept 17: Industrial activity in and around Surat came to halt on Thursday as water-logging forced even the bigger units in the Hazira complex like Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), and Krishubh Bharati Co-operative Ltd (KRIBHCO) to stop work. Reliance Industries, however, was operational at the time of going to press.According to reports received late on Thursday evening, the whole area around the Hazira industrial estate was under upto two feet water. Nearby villages were flooded, and the approach road to one of them, Kawas, was under over a metre of water.The textile and diamond industries in the city were also forced to shut down, with more than 85 per cent of the city under water. Industrial areas like Sachin, Pandesra, Kapodara, and Katargam were under three metres water.Following the closure of the ONGC plant, all industries connected to the HBJ (Hazira-Bijapur-Jagdishpur) gas pipeline stopped production. Unconfirmed reports say that Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) has also stopped operation in the city.Gujarat Gas Co Ltd, while disconnecting supply to the Sachin and Pandesra industrial estates, continued to provide gas to domestic users. More than 60 per cent of its distribution has, however, been affected. P.B. Shukla, assistant manager, GGCL informed that since the company was still receiving LPG from Gujarat State Petro-Chemical Corporation Limited, it still continued its supply to the domestic users.Flood water, meanwhile, have spread in the Pandol, Katargaon, Kapodra, Amroli, Sachin and Pandesara industrial estates affecting the powerloom and diamond units there. Almost all the units at these areas along with Varachha has been closed down since Wednesday night. Thousands of labourers living in slums as well as outskirts of the city have been stranded without assistance.Shambhu Patel, president of the Varachha Weavers Association told Express Newsline that all the eight major private industrial estates at Varachha and Kapodara have suspended operations with water level rising upto five feet.Officials at Kribhco stated that with the ONGC pipeline becoming non-functional all the housing colonies in several areas are being forced to use liquid fuel, of which they have only some two days' stock. Public relation officer Subhash Goswami said that Kribhco and NTPC would be out stock of liquid fuel in two days.However, ONGC officials expressed hope that they would be resume operations and its pipeline supply soon after the water recedes.
