Hyderabad: Old City gold losing glitter as workers head home

HYDERABAD: Reeling under the second wave of Covid-19 infections, Hyderabad’s famous gold ornaments industry in Old City has been badly hit with thousands of goldsmiths leaving the city for their native places. The near Rs 1,000 crore business is down by almost half with most marriages and ceremonies postponed as a result of the pandemic.
The workforce of goldsmiths, comprising largely of migrant workers from Bengal, Odisha, and Bihar, are now taking the first available train out of town. Mounting financial distress and a fear of contracting the virus has led to a halt in operations of around 500 big and mid-sized shops dotted across the by-lanes of Ghansi Bazaar, Gulzar Houz, and Chellapura.
“I used to work at a leading jewellery store. I have seen several of my friends succumb to the virus and some did not even get oxygen supply. Under such conditions, I feel scared and hence I am leaving for home,” said Srimon Surdas, a goldsmith from Odisha. “From what I know, around 1,500 to 2,000 workers if not more, have already the city,” he says.
Another goldsmith, Sumanthu Dhara, counted and said that 11 of his friends working at multi-storied jewellery factory have already returned home while the remaining were packing and preparing to leave on May 17. He said the business was down and there simply is no work left. “The dull business doesn’t allow us to bear expenses in Hyderabad. My wife and kids are calling me every day as they are worried about the situation,” said Dhara, who will soon leave for his hometown in West Bengal.
A lack of medical facilities and the unavailability of vaccine in the city has exacerbated the woes of workers of the gold industry which is divided in to around 500 to 600 shops and several hundred production units which also serve as homes for those involved in the city’s gold business.
A Razzaq Malik, a jewellery shop owner explained that his business took a sudden hit after showing small signs of recovery from the impact of the first wave of the pandemic last year. “I had around 23 boys with me, dealing in design and making attractive jewellery. All of sudden everything has changed and they have gone home as the market is seeing tough days,’’ Malik said.
Suman Aura and Lucky Das, both goldsmiths, fear they will contract the virus if they stay in the city any longer. “Over 75 per cent of goldsmiths have left Old City. “The remaining waiting anxiously to get the vaccine and continue to work but they fear that if a lockdown was imposed, they will face a challenge to survive,” said a spokesman from the local jewellery association.