Patel Community holds rein in Surat Diamond

Patel Community  holds rein in Surat Diamond

Northern region of Gujarat is called Saurashtra. If you ever have found time to peep into workforce of  Surat Diamods, you will find  large  number of  them from Saurashtra. It is not that they came here  simply and started  diamond business. Main problem of this region is water scarcity and this had  forced thousands of people to migrate form the parched lands to seek employment as diamond cutter and polishers in the glittering diamond industry of Surat in 70s and 80s. After  working hard  in the industry for all these years and amassing weath runnig  into crores of rupees, the wealth patals  are now spending a huge amount of money for their community members black home. These patels are setting up water-harvesting facilities in the present generation does not have reasons to migrate elsewhere, facing water scarcity  and drought-like condition.

Take an example of  Mathurbhai savani owner of RS 400-crore Savani Brother – started water harvesting in his hometown in khopala village in Bhaavvnager district. As part of the invitiave, 200big and small check dams and  around 10 ponds in 1998 were constructed. This turned into a collective missions for the patel to bring water to their parched lands in Saurasthra. This work was done throught shramdaan that is voluntary. Unpaid labor contributed by the villagers themsellve. Non-farmers in the village contributed to the princess by digging up a big village pond.

This is how Saurashtra jalthara Trust, an organization of the diamond trader, was born under the able leadership of math urbhai in 19999. Around three lakh  patels from more than 4,000 village s in Saurashtra, who are working with the diamond industry of  Surat and many settled abroad , chipped in fencers running  into crores of ripest for building check-dams and ponds.

In the 80s thousands of youths left Amreli and Bhvnagar to work in the diamond-cutting unit in Surat They lived on meager incomes while supporting their families in the village. But , as they branched into diamond trading and set up big business, they left that future  generation should not have reasons to migrate . Thus the check dam campaign was born, said savani.

The trust has been building check-dam under the start’s 80:20s scheme under sardar shabhagi  jalsanchay  yojana. Onec the dam is  built , the trust signs an agreement  with  the villagers that they will maintain  it . for ; this they have set up a village committee for managing the funds of villagers. The trust spends roughly around Rs1.5crore from its own pocket for the maintenance of its fleet of 40JCb machines technical staff , procuring rawmaterial reduced cost , among others.

We earnaed money from diamond business and now we are  using it to quench the thirst people back home said Govinnd Dholakia chairman shree Ramkrishan Export , who doesn’t even remember the amount of financial assistance disbursed by him for water har vesting  project in the last few years.

Today, around 200 small and big rivers in Saurashtra , which usually go dry  a month after monsoon , are being  revived  with thousands of check dams constructed in the last decade. If the trust members are to be believed, agricultural crop production has seen a substantial increase  the last few years , following water harvesting  facilities in the village of Saurashtra.

The water harvesting initiative has become a reality in the villages of Saurashtra , All  because of the active participation  of villages, diamond tradesrs in Surat and abroad and the state government. In the last decade , we have collected  more than Rs150crore to Rs 200crore  from our brethren in the diamond industry in Surat and abroad  for water harvesting project, said savani, a class V drop out , who manages a technical and engineering team of around 100 people for building check dams in Saurashtra.