BIG CAT WALKS INTO MARUTI PLANT
A leopard was seen on CCTV at the Maruti Suzuki manufacturing plant in Manesar near Gurgaon on Thursday morning, halting production. The big cat remained untraced.
Production at Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant was halted after a leopard was spotted on the premises on Thursday morning. The leopard was not traced till the evening, keeping the staff, wildlife officials and the police on their toes.
Manesar, which is located 20 kilometres from Gurgaon, houses one of the biggest of Maruti Suzuki’s manufacturing plants, where vehicles such as Swift, Swift Dzire and Ertiga are produced.
The plant is spread on 600 acres and on an average, 5,000 engines are made every day, according to Kuldeep Janghu, Maruti worker union’s leader. “In each shift, the plant produces more than 1,600 engines. However, production was halted after a leopard was spotted in a CCTV camera footage,” Janghu said.
The Maruti plant operates throughout the day and employs workers in three shifts. More than 2,000 people are employed in each shift.
Though the workers at the plant were not allowed to enter the unit, they were seen waiting outside the factory.
“We are supposed to mark our attendance every day. Else, we will lose the wages for the day,” said Amit Kumar, a worker.
Another worker, Pradeep Yadav, said, “The night shift workers were asked to vacate the premises and we were not allowed inside.”
More than 2,000 workers remained outside the plant the entire day hoping that they will be allowed to enter anytime.
At 3.30pm, those working in the afternoon shift exited the plant as they were also informed of the leopard sighting.
“The leopard was spotted at the engine plant of the unit. Work will be restarted once the animal is captured safely,” Naresh Yadav, security head, Maruti Suzuki factory.