Double whammy for Bengali workers, artisans of Mumbai's Zaveri Bazaar

It's a sort of double whammy for the large Bengali population of Zaveri Bazaar that is part and parcel of the start-to-end gold trade of Mumbai. It is often referred to as the gold trading hub of India, and it was started in the 19th century.

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, coupled with Cyclone Amphan, had left them confused and tense.

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Around five lakh people are associated with the gold trade, of which nearly 1.5 lakh are workers and small artisans, who work and stay in Zaveri Bazaar, located in Bhuleshwar between the Crawford Market and Mumbadevi stretch.

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There are more than 10,000 small and big gold jewellery manufacturing units here, right from 100 sq feet to big ones. The owners who started off as workers now stay in flats on Mumbai's western and eastern suburbs.

"It is a difficult situation. We all know there was a delay in Maharashtra to West Bengal trains. After the trains started, people are facing the cyclone. Trains have stopped now," Kalidas Sinha Roy, the president of Bengali Swarna Shilpi Kalyan Sangh, told DH.

According to him, nearly 1.5 lakh people stay and work in Zaveri Bazaar. "More than 60,000 are still stranded in Mumbai," he said adding that at both ends, there is a coronavirus threat and the added problem of Amphan.

Also read — Amphan toll rises to 85 in West Bengal; protests over electric, water supply

Majority of them hail from West Medinipur, Malda, Birbhum, Hooghly and Howrah.

According to Satyajit Pramanik, who stays in Vasai suburbs, the workers are going by road. "It's a difficult process. The bus owner first takes necessary permission from the West Bengal government, then it makes a journey to Mumbai. Here the people have to get police permission and then leave. It's a long process. The journey itself takes 60 plus hours and one has to shell out Rs 8,000 to 10,000," he said.

"It's a crisis situation for them. In fact, a lot of people depend on these workers and artisans for their livelihood. From the zhal-muriwala (snack) to Bengali food, everything is available here," said journalist-writer Ajit Joshi, who tracks Mumbai's communities and businesses.

The narrow lanes and bylanes are dotted with hundreds of gold jewellery manufacturing units and shops like Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri, Dwarkadas Chandumal, Dhirajlal Bhimji Zaveri and UTZ that sell gems and jewels.