SDA demands cheap land for workers8217; housing

SURAT, May 11: The diamond industry has made yet another forceful representation to the state government demanding land at concessional r...

SURAT, May 11: The diamond industry has made yet another forceful representation to the state government demanding land at concessional rates for construction of a workers township. Most of the workers live in dank places above the units they are employed in.

This long-pending demand was taken up with chief minister Keshubhai Patel, who was in Surat on Monday to lay the foundation stones of a flyover from Man Darwaja to Sahara Darwaja, and a bridge connecting Mota Varachha to Nana Varachha.

A Surat Diamond Association office-bearer told Express Newsline that following the representation, the chief minister asked the district collector to find a suitable piece of land. The angry representation saw association members criticising the government for making many promises but keeping none of them. Neither the state government nor the Surat Urban Development Authority has done anything about their demand, raised repeatedly in the last four years, the association pointed out.

8220;We want to know whether you are ready to give us the land or not, 8221; was what the association reportedly told the chief minister. District Collector Sangeeta Singh reportedly told the association members at a meeting on Tuesday that she would find the land within five days as the association members insisted that they wanted possession immediately.

Plots will be carved out from the land and allotted to diamond workers, who will build their houses using housing loans. The association has sought 12 acres of land anywhere in Varachha, where most diamond units are located. Approximately only one lakh among the five lakh workers own houses while the rest are living in pitiable conditions.

Meanwhile, the association also demanded an assurance from the chief minister for the creation of a diamond bourse facility in the heart of the city, which will allow immediate import/export. At present, the diamond zone developed at Sachin, on the outskirts of the city, has found few takers from among the local diamond merchants who still prefer Mumbai.

The government can either create a totally new facility or have the one at Sachin shifted to the heart of the city, the association said. The state government could impress upon the Central government that the Sachin park was not serving any purpose. The other demand for a diamond complex that will house cutting and polishing units, banking facilities and trading arrangements has been put on hold by the industry following the fall of the government.