Though the trade union leaders were ?happy? with Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee?s response, they cut across party affiliation on Wednesday to express grave concern over the closed factories and mills and the rising unemployment in the dying industrial belt of Howrah.

The union leaders from Howrah came to Writers? Buildings on Wednesday to discuss the dismal state of affairs in the industrial belt.

They met the chief minister and sought a way out for various industries of the belt, ?especially with a view to helping thousands of people dependent on Howrah?s closed and sick industries.?

One of the delegates pointed to the number of jute mills that are closed (Howrah has 15 of them).

?These include Kanoria Jute Mill and Hanuman Jute Mill. Even the National Jute Mill is sick and is nearing closure,? he said, after the meeting with Bhattacharjee.

Members of trade unions such as CITU, AITUC, TUCC, UTUC and the 12th July Committee submitted a memorandum with their demands to chief minister Bhattacharjee during the meeting.

?Bridge & Roof Company, Fort Engineering and Guest Keen Williams closed down several years ago,? pointed out Nimai Samanta, CITU district secretary.

?Hooghly Dock and Port Engineering and Burn Standard, too, are in bad shape, Workers in many units have been offered voluntary retirement, and the vacant positions are being filled with contractual staff, who are being paid very low wages,? another union member said.

Apart from engineering units and jute mills, a number of cotton mills, too, have shut down in Howrah. ?We expect many of these mills to open very soon ? possibly before the Pujas,? he added.

Apart from large-scale industries, there are at least 200 supporting industries in Howrah that are lying closed.

?All these small-scale industries can be brought back to life only if the large industries are revived,? CITU district secretary Samanta added.

The union leaders were ?happy? with Bhattacharjee?s response on Wednesday.

?He was very reassuring, and said he had already spoken to Union minister of state for heavy industries and public enterprises Santosh Mohan Deb to help revive some of them,? said Manoj Banerjee of the TUCC.

The chief minister reportedly told the trade union team that things may look up in Howrah soon, as a rubber and foundry park is in the pipeline.