Unlocked Surat economy slowly limps back to normal

SURAT: The diamond and textile industries, the backbone of Surat’s economy is slowly getting back on track after the lockdown relaxation but the returning workforce remains a matter of concern for the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC).
According to sources, there are a total 10,077 industries in the city out of which 6,363 have become functional.

According to the latest estimate, over 6,81,223 labourers have returned to work. Out of the 6.81 lakh labourers, 95,600 are back in textile, 4 lakh in diamond, 1.33 lakh in GIDC and around 52,557 workers are back to work in factories. Moreover, over 16,391 construction labourers have also resumed their work.
“The returning labourers need to stay in isolation for seven days once they are in the city and if they have any symptoms they need to get tested themselves for Covid-19 to ensure that they don’t spread the virus,” said Banchhanidhi Pani, municipal commissioner, Surat.
In various industries, 40,414 workers have been tested for Covid-19 tests of which 8,35 have been found positive in the city.
“Static units have been established at the railway station, bus depot and entry points of the city for screening of the passengers and people entering the city. People are screened for temperature and oxygen level at such units and symptomatic passengers are tested for Covid-19 on the spot. Random testing of passengers is also carried out on the spot,” said an official.
About 6,761 passengers at the Surat Railway station have been tested so far, of which 78 were tested positive for Covid-19 and about 2,401 passengers were tested at a bus stop in which 41 were found positive. A total of 6,480 people at five entry points of the city have been tested, of which 85 were tested positive.
“SMC has formed various SOPs for safe functioning of diamond and textile Industries and also for returning labours. The guidelines for enrolment of the migrant returnee labourers to duty in their respective industries state that a labour is allowed to resume duty only if he has tested negative or has presence of antibody or stays quarantined for a period of seven days,” Pani added.