New Delhi, May 27 (KNN) Months have passed to the culmination of the Kumbh in Uttar Pradesh but tannery units are still breathless in state. Observing the behavior of government over this matter, even the owners of the industry are doubtful whether it will be re-opened again or not.

Once booming, leather industry which is famous for its leather goods from early times in Kanpur and in fact one of the oldest industry, has become dead months before the start of Kumbh and is still dead even after the culmination of Kumbh.

Speaking with KNN India, President of Uttar Pradesh Leather Industry Association, Taj Alam said “Since last 6 months tanneries are closed and large number of people engaged in this business have got unemployed. Even the owners are clueless about what to do with their machineries, drums and infrastructure that they have.”

They do not know when it will be re-opened or even have doubts whether it will be re-opened again or not, he added.

He mentioned that government doesn’t want to talk in this regard. Government doesn’t want to listen over this matter.

"We have sent number of representations to the government, despite that we have not received any concrete reply from any quarter," Alam said.

When asked about the expectations from the new government, he said “The new government is same. Had there been another government formed by another political party then of course we could have approached them with all our problems. But, because it’s the same government, it’s only that the minister would of course be changed. But it’s the same government, same political party and same output.”

According to the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC), 264 small and big tanneries operate in Kanpur and Unnao. The state government had ordered the closure of all the tanneries in Kanpur from December 15, 2018 to March 15, 2019 in order to keep the river Ganga clean during the Kumbh in Allahabad.