The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) on Saturday 20 June slapped closure notices on three major diamond factories in Katargam zone ---Dharmanandan Diamonds, Shivam Exports and J & B Brothers---after more than 20 employees at these factories tested positive for COVID-19, as per an Indian Express report.
SMC Deputy Health commissioner Dr Ashish Naik said: “Our teams had found 13 positive cases from Dharmanandan Diamonds, five positive cases from Shivam Exports and four from J & B brothers. There are thousands of diamond polishers working in all these factories. We have slapped closure notices on all the three firms. The factories will be disinfected and kept closed for at least ten days until further notice.”
One of the reasons of infection is suspected to be the handling of the rough diamonds, which are coming from unknown sources and passed through many people.
Surat Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani has issued a list of guidelines to diamond factories, emphasizing on the use of mask and make proper seating arrangements maintaining social distancing among the diamond polishers.
“We have been regularly instructing the diamond factory owners to follow the Covid-19 guidelines. By issuing closure notice to the three big factories we want to set an example to other diamond factories that if they don’t follow the instructions, similar actions will be taken against them as well,” he added.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
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