It's not surprising that Gujarat, being a largely alluvial plain, supports a thriving brick manufacturing industry, as the sediment produces clay with all the right components for making good quality kiln fired bricks. Many of the brickworks are family owned - some 30 of them alone, operating near Baruch, an hour or so from Vadodara - the bricks are still handmade in the traditional way and transported to the kiln by donkey. The industry is carefully controlled and to avoid too much environmental damage, clay pits are limited to a maximum depth of 5 feet and iron chimneys have been outlawed in favour of brick, cutting pollution considerably.
The industry is cyclical, being conditioned by climate and the rhythm of nature – as production is impossible during the Monsoon months, the industry closes down in May and only reopens during Dussehra, in October.
"Overheads are not great" the owner of the brickworks told me "but you have to be rich enough to buy the land in the first place" ! His eighty year old father had had the foresight to buy the land when prices were low and they had then maximised this investment by buying the plot of land next door. He employed a manager to oversee operations and someone in charge of recruiting the labour and keeping a watchful eye on them - they are expected to produce a certain number of bricks per day. "During the Monsoon months, we can cart the bricks to neighbouring states where bricks are scarce and maintain an income during the quieter months"
The industry is cyclical, being conditioned by climate and the rhythm of nature – as production is impossible during the Monsoon months, the industry closes down in May and only reopens during Dussehra, in October.
"Overheads are not great" the owner of the brickworks told me "but you have to be rich enough to buy the land in the first place" ! His eighty year old father had had the foresight to buy the land when prices were low and they had then maximised this investment by buying the plot of land next door. He employed a manager to oversee operations and someone in charge of recruiting the labour and keeping a watchful eye on them - they are expected to produce a certain number of bricks per day. "During the Monsoon months, we can cart the bricks to neighbouring states where bricks are scarce and maintain an income during the quieter months"
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