SURAT: With diamond units closed in Surat in view of the COVID-19 outbreak, a number of workers employed in these units are leaving the Gujarat city every day as they are now left with no source of income, those associated with the business claimed.
Surat Diamond Workers Union president Jaysukh Gajera said they fear 70 per cent of the workers who are leaving the city may never come back.
Over six lakh people are employed in more than 9,000 diamond cutting and polishing units here which remained shut from March-end till the first week of June.
But, since the business activities resumed in the second week of June, over 600 workers and their families have tested positive for coronavirus so far.
As a precautionary measure, the Surat Municipal Corporation earlier this week ordered the diamond polishing units to remain closed till July 13.
Surat Luxury Bus Operators Association president Dinesh Andhan claimed that on an average, 300 buses carrying nearly 6,000 people,mostly diamond industry workers, leave from Surat every day for Saurashtra and north Gujarat, from where these workers had come here in search of work.
"While nearly 6,000 workers are leaving the city in luxury buses, some 4,000 are leaving in cars, trucks and other vehicles every day. Many are leaving with their belongings. Bus operators are not charging them for their luggage and belongings being being accommodated on top of the buses," he told PTI.
When contacted, Surat Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani said they don't have the figures of those leaving the city.
However, Andhan said they are witnessing a greater rush of people leaving the city now than what it used to be during the Diwali vacations.
As the diamond polishing units are now shut, the workers who were living in rented houses are unable to sustain their livelihood, Gajera said.
"They have been jobless for almost four months and there is little hope the situation will improve in near future. Nearly 1,500 families are leaving for their native places in mini-trucks every day with their belongings," he claimed.
"This is unprecedented. We believe 70 per cent workers who are leaving with their belongings may never come back. Even if they do, they will not return with their families," he added.
Despite strict measures to contain the pandemic, Surat district in Gujarat recorded its highest one-day spike in coronavirus cases at 273, which was also the highest daily increase in the state on Wednesday.
With 273 new patients found since previous evening, the tally of coronavirus cases in the district rose to 7,274, second highest after Ahmedabad, the Health Department said.
Ahmedabad district reported 156 cases during the day.
215 new cases were detected in Surat city and 58 from rural areas.
Five infected patients, three from the city and two from adjoining villages, died, taking the death toll in the district to 271.
181 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the total of recovered persons to 4,390.
Of 215 cases found in the city, the highest 37 came from Varachha-A zone, followed by 36 each from Katargam and Rander and 33 from Varachha-B zone, a municipal corporation official said.
Katargam zone, which has several diamond polishing units and houses many diamond workers, is the worst affected area with 1,599 cases reported so far, followed by 1,123 in Limbayat and 812 in Varachha-A zone, also a diamond hub.
Around 600 diamond workers or their family members have tested positive for coronavirus in the last one month.
The Surat Municipal Corporation has already ordered temporary closure of all the diamond units, paan shops and street food joints in Katargam, Varachha and Sarthana (Varachha-B) areas to stop the spread of virus.