Sea change

Coastal Kutch is being altered, socially and ecologically, by bustling ports and mushrooming industries

- RAHUL DEVULAPALLI

MUNDRA LIVES UP to its reputation of being an old coastal town. Dusty roads clear up occasionally to reveal an imposing clock tower, and at some distance away, the town’s decaying fort walls and gateway give away the age of the place. Mundra had a revival of sorts recently. The 17th-century town used to be a municipality, but a dwindling population brought it down to a nagar panchayat and eventually to a gram panchayat. Thanks to industrial activity in the last two decades, it is back to being a municipality today.

Mundra has become synonymous with its port. In 2006, the Gujarat government divested its stake in the port, making it an entirely private entity. The Mundra Port is the country’s largest private commercial port—run by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd—and is spread across 8,400 hectares. The development of the port and its allied industry took place during the BJP rule in the state, and party supporters cite it as a glorious achievement as it led to employment opportunities.

The people of Mundra and the Adani Group, owned by the richest man in Asia, Gautam Shantilal Adani, are inseparable, socially and economically. And, that bond is visible in the ‘Turkish’ village of Dhrub. The Turk connection is hard to miss here. It lends itself to names—of mosques, like the Turk Shahi Masjid, or medical stores, and of people—and blends in effortlessly. Ninety-five per cent of the residents here trace their ancestry to Turkey and most of them have stayed true to the traditional occupation of date cultivation.