Dwarka: High on religious tourism,but lagging behind in industrial growth
The port town of Okha was 160 km away from its district headquarters,Jamnagar city,in the undivided Jamnagar district.
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The port town of Okha was 160 km away from its district headquarters,Jamnagar city,in the undivided Jamnagar district. This geographical distance of many parts of the district from its centre called for the creation of Devbhoomi Dwarka a new district,entirely carved out of Jamnagar district. It includes Jam Khambhalia,Kalyanpur,Bhanvad and Dwarka talukas with Khambhalia as its headquarters.
Unlike Morbis ceramic industry,Dwarka does not have a prominent industry. But,it will be home to oil refinery and power plant of the Essar in Vadinar and cement and chemicals plant of Tata in Mithapur. But,as of now,the district derives its identity from Dwarka,the temple town on the shores of the Arabian Sea.
Essar and Tata are big industrial houses in our district. But there is hardly any ancillary industry here. It will be our endeavour to facilitate the start and growth of industries in the new district, said Collector Dipak Joshi.
Joshi added that the district had the potential to harness wind energy. While wind farms near Bhatia and Okha are already in operation,coal and related ventures have come up in Khambhalia.
All the four talukas are on the seashore. It has minor ports,like Okha,Rupen,Lamba and Poshitra,which have potential for further development. The district is likely to turn into a tourist hotspot. The peninsular western part of the district has a cluster of pilgrim sites across Dwarka,Bet Dwarka and Nageshwar. While the Jagat Mandir of Dwarka draws pilgrims from across the country for Krishna darshan and a dip in the Gomati,Nageshwar enshrines one of the 12 jyortirlingas of Lord Shiva. Bet Dwarka,an island near Okha,has a Krishna temple and many local families earn their living by ferrying passengers from Okha in their boats.
However,the new administration faces the challenge of illegal mining of bauxite in Kalyanpur taluka and near Bhatia. We shall try to have an office of a geologist in the district to facilitate judicious exploitation of natural resources,while keeping illegal mining under check, said Joshi. Dwarka is among the few districts with no four-lane highway. With the Gujarat Pavitra Yatradham Vikas Board continuing its efforts to develop Dwarka town,the district administration will strive to widen highways connecting ports to other parts of the state.
The district is rich in groundnut cultivation and cattle-breeding is another profession of the people here. Khambhalia town is known for desi ghee.
Breeding activity of sea turtles have been observed on the coast near Mithapur and the area has been declared off-limits for civilians by the Marine National Park,Jamnagar.
Besides,a turtle breeding centre is coming up at Okhamadhi near Dwarka town. Dugong,near Dwarka,is known for sea cow.
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