Surat floods spoil businesses

Ahmedabad: Heavy rainfall and flooding over the past fortnight in central and southern Gujarat has caused huge losses to the industrial belt.

With most diamond units in areas like Katargam, Mahidharpura and Ved Road under water, the diamond industry has shut shop altogether.

The state of the textile industry is no better.

Incessant rains have also hampered operations for industrial giants like Reliance, Essar, Larsen and Toubro and ONGC who have units in the industrial belt of Hazira on Surat's outskirts.

Chief minister Narendra Modi has sought Rs 2,000 crore from the Prime Minister's Relief fund.

Bhagyesh Jha, Director of Information in Gujarat, says: "Let the water recede, then an assessment of the loss can be made. As far as Hazira units are concerned, these units have been affected badly, and some of them have stopped production."

The transport industry has also been hard hit by the floods. The movement of trucks has been hampered on National Highway 8. Transporters incurring loss have now hiked up the freight rate by 15 per cent.

Baldev Singh Tahl, a worried transporter, says: "My truck was going from Raipur to Hyderabad. It's stranded on the highway in Gujarat and there are perishable goods inside."

Jaideep Singh Bal, President of Bombay Transport Co-operative Consumer Society says: "Trucks have got stranded on the highways in Gujarat. We are losing about Rs 2,500 per day because of this."

An estimate of the damage will be done at a later stage, but for now, the industry has just one prayer to offer - let the waters recede in Surat city.

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