Gujarat's textile industry faces labourers' exodus

As a direct fallout of the floods and subsequent widespread fear of epidemics, a mass exodus of over 2 lakh labourers working in the Rs 30,000 crore textile and ancillary industries has begun. Also, some 400 textile processing houses have been left virtually without water and fuel.

The diamond industry too has been affected as a large number of skilled workers working in diamond cutting and polishing units in the city are rushing back towards the Saurashtra region where most of them belong.

It's difficult to stop the workers since all textile units in the city had stopped functioning as most of the machinery was damaged by flood water, said Haresh Saraiya of the Surat Weavers Cooperative Society. Most of the 1.5 lakh workers engaged in various textile industry segments belong mainly to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa.

Arunbhai Jariwala, former president, Surat Chamber of Commerce and current president of Surat Art Silk Cloth Manufacturing Association said all the 400 processing houses in the city were completely closed.

"The industry is so dependent on these workers that when they fled to their hometown in 1998 following similar situations, we had to book coaches on Bihar and Orissa-bound trains to bring them back to work," said Jariwala.

If the situation gets out of control, most workers would vanish in another week or ten days, deserting the industry for at least three months.

Nearly all 400 textile processing units of the city are without any kind of fuel.

"We do not have lignite or coal to fire our boilers," Jariwala said, adding, "If arrangements are not made to solve the problem, at least 80 per cent industry would collapse completely."

A large number of trucks loaded with lignite and coal are stuck on the highway owing to the inaccessibility of roads. The Surat Chamber of Commerce is working closely with the textile industry in requesting the GMDC and the government to ensure lignite or coal supply.

In the case of the diamond industry, the situation may not be that grim since during crisis time, skilled industry workers migrate to their home town in the Saurashtra region and come back within a week or two.

The affected areas in the city include Varacha, Ved road and Kattargam. "Migration of the craftsmen and labourers is expected in such a situation and it will take at least two weeks for the diamond market to recover,'' said Chairman of Indian Diamond Institute Surat, Chandrakant Sanghvi.

Though the exact figures of the migrating labourers is not known, it is estimated that almost 50 per cent of the labourers have already migrated. Moreover, there is no electric supply in Ved and Kaprada.

Already the diamond industry has lost around Rs 2,25,00 crore. Out of the total, Rs 1,000 crore has been lost due to the migration of labourers.

"To ensure that craftsmen stay we have set up 12 camps in the city in the areas of Kaprada, Varacha, Pana and Simrala,'' said Nanu Wananni, former president of the Surat diamond Association.

"Only 20-30 per cent of the craftsmen are expected to come, when the work starts,'' said Sameer Shah, partner of Mahindra Exports.

Surat city is also faced with the fear of an epidemic outbreak. A senior technician pathologist in Surat, Umang Dholabhai confirmed that "The number of patients visiting doctors and pathology laboratories is rising continuously."

It is feared that waterborne diseases like cholera leptospirosis, for which Surat is considered as an epidemic area, and jaundice may affect the city during the next few days, says Dholabhai.