Kathmandu: Shriram Pandey, the owner of ‘One World Footwear Industry’, has suffered a huge loss due to not having property insurance. Due to his misunderstanding about insurance, he himself finds as a victim of a huge loss amid massive fire in his shoe industry last week. The newly established shoe industry located inside Balaju Industrial Area, went ash in a massive fire broke-out due to short circuit.
He had established the industry with his personal investment and without any financing from bank or financial institutions. He was of the perception that property insurance is necessary only if one takes loans from the BFIs. Pandey has informed that there was a loss of about Rs. 4 crore as the shoe manufacturing machine, raw materials and manufactured shoes were destroyed when the fire broke out.
He repents, ‘I have lost the saving of many years within hours. If I had insured my industry, it would not have a huge loss for me.’ After an expensive learning, now he admits, ‘I will insure before reopening the industry.’
Last April, there was a fire in the Sagarmatha Gas Industry, the owner had to bear a loss of crores of rupees amid underinsurance. The proprietors of the industry had paid for insurance only to the limit of their bank loan which was quite lower than their whole investment in the industry. The estimated loss was over Rs. 300 million in the oxygen gas plan, but the owner had insured only of Rs. 3 crores against the bank loan. To save few lakhs rupees against the property insurance, the owner had to bear loss of crores.
