Last month’s Mumbai blasts have shaken this diamond hub into clearing up its congested streets and installing CCTVs. But some feel that only a total re-location will make them secure.
The reverberations of the Mumbai blasts last month at Opera House and Zhaveri Bazaar, have been felt as far as the busy lanes of Varachha, a part of the diamond trading and polishing hub in Surat.
So shaken are diamond merchants in Surat by what happened to their brethren in Mumbai that the trade body, Surat Diamond Association (SDA) and the civic body, Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC), have initiated efforts to ease the congestion at all the three diamond markets. These include Mini Bazaar and Choksi Bazaar located on the Varachha road area and the Mahidharpura diamond market—the oldest one in Surat.
For starters, the twin forces of the SDA as well as the SMC have ejected road-side vendors, tea and food stalls as well as hawkers from the congested diamond trading locations—a populace that added much vitality and charm to the district. “Now with security becoming a major concern for all of us, we had no choice but to ask them to leave,” adds Vasani, who sits at the Mini Bazaar diamond market on Varachha road.
The Surat diamond industry is one of the oldest businesses in the city and has attracted large number of migrants from across the country. With an annual turnover in excess to Rs 80,000 crore, the diamond industry alone generates direct employment for about 400,000 people, while indirectly employing to over a million people.
What happens here affects countless families as well as a large engine of growth, so being pro-active about security makes good business sense.
The oldest diamond market in Surat consists of about seven small streets crossing each other with at least 2,500 diamond traders setting up shop in closely constructed buildings. Most of these buildings were originally residential properties which were later converted into business complexes. However, even today, many of the small diamond traders operate from a rented space called 'Otla' ( a cemented porch), just outside a residence, like the old days.
“Earlier, people rented Otlas of their residences to diamond traders for doing business here,” says Mohan Vekaria, who owns a safe deposit vault in the Mahidharpura market. The market has about 9-10 such vaults where traders deposit their diamonds in order to avoid the risk of carrying them home at the day’s end. “There were no serious security concerns in those days. As time passed by, these traders became big merchants and bought these residential properties to make their business house. So, you will see, while many old residential properties have been converted into posh office buildings, the lanes have remained the same narrow ones, as they have been since 1960s.”
It is these narrow lanes that fuel congestion, which according to Surat residents, is the real threat faced by the industry. “The diamond traders prefer to place their vehicle just in front of their offices, which adds to the congestion,” says Jignesh Vasani, a young diamond trader, who hails from Bhavnagar district of the state.
With vehicle and vendor congestion getting cleared to some extent due to the compulsions from the civic body, the industry now plans to place high-end closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras covering each of the buildings in the diamond market in order to keep a close eye on the movements in and around the streets here.
While the streets are getting a makeover, there has been no visible improvements in security at diamond trading establishments. On the other hand, the diamond polishing units are better equipped with security arrangements, including private guards and CCTV cameras.
Surat’s paranoia is also rooted in its history. In July 2008, the police unearthed 29 unexploded bombs in different parts of the city. The incident took place immediately after the 16 co-ordinated serial blasts that ripped apart Ahmedabad city and killed at least 45 people.
So nervous are Surat residents about their safety that the SDA rewarded Reshma Rangrez, an Ahmedabad-based 32-year old woman, with a cash prize of Rs 1,25,000 for turning her husband, who was apparently involved in bomb making and weapons smuggling, in to the police.
Could these recent security arrangements just be all smoke and mirrors?“There is only one way to make this industry most secure, that is to shift this entire market to a bigger and safer place,” informs Chandrakant Sanghvi, a veteran diamond merchant and chairman of Sanghvi Exports.
Others believe that the solution to better security lies with the industry itself. “Instead of leaving everything to the administration and police to ensure safety, the industry itself should take security measures,” says Ajoy Bhattacharya, president, Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industries (SGCCI). “It is practically not possible to keep a vigil on each and every individual visiting a city like Surat. The awareness about security should come from within the industry,” he adds.
Recently, the diamond merchants have mutually agreed to place about 5,000 CCTV cameras at different locations in all the three diamond markets.
However, with CCTV cameras bringing them under the public eye, business will never be the same for diamond traders. Many regret that the changing times would take away the pleasure of doing business in the name of heightened security.
“Never in the past, did we feel the need of such security for us or our families, even when we migrated from our homeland in Saurashtra,” says a trader, who daily commutes between Surat and Mumbai with precious stones wrapped up in a piece of paper and placed in a hidden pant pocket. “It is sad that the fear of death is killing our pleasure of business.”
