Printers in Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack safe even as Cyclone Phailin hits other parts of Orissa

Cyclone Phailin, which made its landfall from the Bay of Bengal, has left million people in Odisha (formerly Orissa) and adjacent Andhra Pradesh, particularly the coastal areas of the Orissa, devastated. Orissa’s Ganjam District bore the brunt of the storm, which ripped apart huts, mangled power lines and downed trees on its path.

15 Oct 2013 | By PrintWeek India

Siddhart Das of Perfecf Print & Graphics, told PrintWeek India that though the cities of Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack, the printing hubs of Orissa remained unaffected, the skies were dark — almost black — at noon in Bhubaneshwar. “Strong winds caused large-scale power and communication outages. The roads were shut and rail links affected.”

Das said that the print operations have been shut for the last few days owing to Durga Puja festival. “We hope that the power and communication lines are restored in the next few days, so that we can re-start work. We have manageable stock of paper and consumables and with vehicular traffic movement resuming, we can continue doing business,” he said.

Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack both cities put together have about 20 to 25 mid-level printing companies. The two cities have seen a surge in installation of multi-colour presses and CTPs. “Bhubaneshwar has seen at least eight new CTPs in the last couple of years and all the seven major newspapers have installed CTPs,” said Das. “There are small set ups elsewhere in Orissa, but most of them rely on the two cities’ printers for multi-colour jobs.”

Print-Tech Offset in Bhubaneshwar, which installed a brand new Heidelberg in July, 2010 installed its second Heidelberg press in April this year. “We installed a SX-52, after we saw the press at Drupa 2012,” said Biswa Ranjan Nayak, a partner and director at the print firm. “Yes, the print industry has seen a growth in the last two years, but the cyclone may slow down things,” he laments. “The jobs coming from small villages will come down to a trickle now.”

Subhransu Sekhar Tripathy of Cuttack-based Graphic Art Offset Press echoes Nayak’s sentiments. “Cuttack is safe, but rest of the coastal areas remain severely affected. Project work will be stalled, which will affect our business too,” he said.

Orissa has a printers’ association, but it has not met in the last two years. Both Das and Nayak believe that it would be a good time to revive the association, so that steps could be taken to help affected people of Orissa as well as uplift print business in Orissa. “We haven’t done much in the past, but we all have a responsibility to help out our fellow citizens ravaged by the cyclone who need help,” said Nayak.