May 8 rumours fall flat

SURAT, May 6: Just as migrations are nothing new to Surat, so are emigrations, even mass ones. If rumours that the Ukai dam would burst s...

SURAT, May 6: Just as migrations are nothing new to Surat, so are emigrations, even mass ones. If rumours that the Ukai dam would burst sent thousands of them away in 1994, the communal riots of 1992-93 saw many of them refusing to return to Surat.

But the doomsday rumours, that have seen workers desert the Alang ship-breaking yard by the droves, are yet to have an impact in Surat. Workers are leaving the city, but the current recession in the textile industry and the wedding season are said to have a lot to do with it.

General secretary of Dakshin Gujarat Kamdar Sangh Urmila Rana, however, claims the doomsday rumours are driving workers away from Khatodara, Ambanagar and Pandesara every day. 8220;They are not ready to see reason when told that the rumours have no scientific backing8221;, she says.

8220;Agar rail aaya to kya aap hame bachane aayega8221; is their general defence when they8217;re told nothing will happen. 8220;The authorities had said the same thing about floods in the Tapi in September last year but we did face floods, didn8217;t we?8221; Rana quotes the workers as saying.

The faded pamphlets of the astrological predictions8217; of a pralay on May 8 were circulated in the textile markets more than a month ago. Those who did keep them, however, did so more out of amusement than anything else.The same spirit seems to dominate the city. 8220;Nobody is paying attention to the rumours8221;, says a leader of the Gujarat Audyogik Kamdar Sangh. 8220;If they do so, we8217;ll prevent them.8221;

8220;Not more than five per cent of the workers are leaving8221;, adds Kamalvijay Tulsian, a processor with a unit in Pandesara, while Jitubhai Vakharia of Narayan Processors says that workers from nearby areas could, at most, go away a day in advance and come back on May 9. DCP K K Oza, too, says he has heard no reports of exodus from Kapodra, Udhna, Katargam and Limbayat, among the other labour-dominated areas.

In the city8217;s memory, the emiogration triggered by the 1994 Ukai dam rumours 8212; fanned to a large extent by local newspapers 8212; was the largest, unparalleled even by the plague-scare exodus. The only ones to benefit then were the transporters and vehicle-owners, who made a killing by demanding 8212; and getting 8212; exorbitant fares out of the city.

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The locals dealt with the Ukai threat simply by arming themselves with rubber tubes!