Surat gas shortages drive Odia migrants back to Ganjam

Soaring black market cooking gas prices, fueled by ongoing West Asia hostilities, are driving thousands of Odia textile workers out of Surat. Earning daily wages of Rs 300 to Rs 700, laborers suddenly find themselves unable to afford fuel currently priced up to Rs 500 per kilogram. This desperate situation leaves over seven lakh Odia workers facing potential starvation, prompting a hasty retreat via crowded trains back to Odisha. Historically, Ganjam district serves as the primary labor pipeline for Gujarat’s textile economy, sending generations of workers westward to sustain the multibillion-dollar power loom industry.

Struggle for Daily Survival

Basic survival has become virtually impossible for these migrant populations. Landlords routinely prohibit alternative cooking methods, outright banning open wood fires and electrical induction stoves inside cramped rented accommodations. Missing work to secure a gas cylinder means forfeiting essential daily wages, which further breaks already fragile household budgets. Chinna Reddy, a power loom operator from Parla, explains that reliable access to standard gas connections remains nonexistent for transients, forcing absolute dependence on extortionate illegal vendors who struggle to maintain supply. Furthermore, local food vendors have doubled meal prices, erasing any chance of affordable dining.

False Lockdown Fears Accelerate Retreat

Beyond severe economic hardship, whispered fears of sudden pandemic-style lockdowns have accelerated this reverse migration wave. Migrants vividly recall previous hardships and strongly prefer enduring economic uncertainties close to their native support systems. Although Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri firmly rejected these shutdown rumors, panic continues spreading rapidly across industrial worker colonies. Families have already packed up and permanently abandoned their Gujarat quarters. These laborers remain unsure when, or if, global energy supply chains will stabilize enough to permit their eventual return to the western textile hubs.

With Info from Public Domain