Morbi Ceramics Industry Halts, Migrants Head Home

0:00It's April 12th. I'm Corey with the story, and this is Cindy News today, your AI-powered local news. In the ceramics hub of Morby, India, factories are grinding to a halt, forcing thousands of migrant workers to head home. This $11 billion industry, the world's second biggest for thousand fittings, relies on constant gas supplies and employs over 400,000 people, but Middle East tensions spike gas prices, shutting down more than 500 units in late February. The trouble started when shipping through the straight of hormones got tight, cutting India's energy imports. Factories run non-stop on propane and natural gas, but now supplies are scarce and cost have soared. Manufacturers like those in Morby can't operate without it, so production stopped overnight, rippling to packaging and transport jobs too. Workers from states like Uttar Pradesh and Bahaar are packing of families and crowding trains and buses. Journeys home take nearly 20 hours, with platforms jammed at places like Wankhonder station, many

1:02face debt for medical bills, kids pulled from school, and even trouble affording cooking gas, switching to wood, just to eat. Some factories are trying piped natural gas at higher prices, but they'll run at half capacity when restarting around mid-April. A two-week ceasefire helps, but officials say full recovery could take two to three months, eating workers back and orders rebuilt. For these families living paycheck to paycheck, waiting it out isn't an option. Heading to villages is their only lifeline, much like during the pandemic when jobs vanish before. The global change has snapped their world in two.