LAST week the once-upon-a-time mill town of Nanded in Maharastra hit another low. The bombing of a mosque triggered riots that went on for a week. But the communal frenzy was the result of the festering frustration that has swallowed Nanded ever since its mills started closing down since the early ’90s. The situation is equally grim in neighbouring Parbhani.

Illiteracy, unemployment and industrial backwardness has marginalised an entire population making them sensitive, jumpy, vulnerable and insecure. ‘‘When they lost their jobs, people were so desperate they were willing to do anything for a living. This is one of the reasons for increasing social tension in Nanded,’’ says Aniket Kulkarni, a senior journalist with a local daily.

Sushila Lahankar sits in a dingy room, looking around vacantly. Her 15-year-old daughter Shubai peeps from behind a door. Her younger sister Asha (12) holds her father’s photograph close to her chest. Sushila’s husband Gangadhar Lahankar committed suicide in April 1994. A badli (substitute) worker with Texcom Textiles in Nanded, Lahankar killed himself because there was no work. Workers like him were the first to face the axe when Texcom began shutting down in the early 1990s. It finally closed this year. It was Nanded’s biggest industrial let down, one that affected over 10,000 families.

‘‘The company was Nanded’s industrial backbone. When it fell apart in 1995, it ruined the social and economic fabric of the town,’’ says D.H. Chinchole, a former employee of Texcom.

Texcom was started by the Marathwada Development Corporation in 1970 to coordinate the outputs of weavers in areas surrounding Nanded. For the first decade, the project ran smoothly and produced the famous Nanded fabric that was even imported. But in the late ’80s, things started falling apart.

Differences between the management and labour unions, dissatisfied weavers and high political interference paralysed its functioning. Production dipped and the company started suffering losses. In 1993, it was declared sick. In 1995, the weavers associated with the company approached the state government with a request to delink them from Texcom.

The government agreed. Of the 392 looms that were a part of Texcom, only 70 stayed. The project collapsed . ‘‘A number of employees had nothing to fall back on. Some left Nanded to join mills elsewhere. Some started running cycle rickshaws, others became daily wage labourers. But most had no means of survival,’’ says Chinchole.

Chinchole was fortunate he had saved some money while working. Others like Lahankar had no savings to fall back on.

Lahankar’s suicide helped 260 badli workers get regular wages from the company. But his family was left out. ‘‘He died fighting for them. But when they got money, they didn’t even bother to check on us,’’ says Sushila.

Neighbouring Parbhani has similar stories to tell. Within a decade, Parbhani saw the rise and fall of two important industrial projects—the Prabhavati Spinning Mill and the Maharashtra State Oilseeds Commercial and Industrial Corporation Ltd (MSOCICOL).

Prabhavati was started in the mid-eighties with a capacity to produce 25,000 spindles. However, unionism and politics caused its downfall. It was temporarily shut down in 1993 and subsequently handed over to a private contractor but the end finally came in 1996 leaving 700 workers in the lurch.

Chidambar Kulkarni, a Karnataka resident, came to Parbhani to join Prabhavati. ‘‘The management wanted to pretend the company was sick and then extract funds from the government on the pretext of reviving it,’’ Kulkarni says.

The plan didn’t work and the company died. Kulkarni was forced to quit in 1993. ‘‘ It was the toughest period of my life,’’ says Kulkarni.

LOCKOUT

Texcom Textiles, Nanded Established 1970 Closed 2003 Families affected: over 10,000

Prabhavati Spinning Mill, Parbhani Established 1987 Closed 1996 Families affected: 700

Parbhani began being called an industrially unlucky town after MSOCICOL closed. This state government undertaking was established in 1984 with a seven-crore investment but shut shop in 1986. The sugar factories and daal processing units followed. Unemployment levels in Parbhani’s agro-based economy touched new highs. ‘‘People resorted to other means of making money,’’ says Rajiv Chowdhary, president of the Parbhani Lions’ Club International. ‘‘Matka dens sprouted all over the city.’’

Today, both Parbhani and Nanded are agriculturally rich but poorly developed towns. A series of industrial failures has made new investors wary of exploring them. Authorities say these towns require a change in attitude.

‘‘Development is essential to keep people busy and take their mind off other things,’’ says district collector, Nanded, Tanaji Satre.