Rudrapur curfew to be lifted today

Udhamsingh Nagar district authorities today announced special curfew relief for industrial workers at the violence-hit Rudrapur industrial town.

With the industrial production remaining affected during the past four days, district authorities would partially lift curfew tomorrow morning for a few hours to enable workers to join their duties at factories which had been hit by the workers’ confinement at their homes at curfew-bound Rudrapur.

“We are lifting the curfew between 7 am and 9am tomorrow especially for the industrial workers,” said district magistrate Udhamsingh Nagar P S Jangpangi.

In the afternoon, the curfew will again be lifted for nearly four to five hours which would give extra time to people to buy essential commodities for their homes.

The production in nearly 200-300 manufacturing units in Pantnagar industrial estate and nearby areas had remained partially affected following imposition of curfew in Rudrapur town in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand.

”We are doing our best to bring last peace in the area and taking all steps so that industries are not affected,” said DIG Abhinav Kumar, who has been entrusted with the job to control the situation.

In one of the worst communal clashes in Uttarakhand, four people were killed and several others injured as rioting mobs attacked each other and torched vehicles and shops at Rudrapur on October 2.

Top food and automobile industries like Bajaj Auto, Britannia, Nestle, Dabur and Tata Motors have set up manufacturing shops at Pantnagar industrial estate which houses a total of 417 units. Most of these companies have reported that the production was being affected due to curfew at Rudrapur.

Pantnagar is a key industrial estate developed by the State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited.