In rural India, wealth just out of reach
Pailikhand's magnificent diamond wealth is held up by bewildering bureaucracy and lawsuits.
from the May 22, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
In Pailikhand, another Koh-i-noor?
Before the arrival of B. Vijay Kumar in 2000, the area around Pailikhand had a touch of the Yukon about it, say residents. Some people dug up parts of their own farms. Others trekked into the highlands with the coming of the rains, digging ditches a few feet deep and using rainwater to sift the soil through their baskets.
"Wherever I went, I found something," says Mr. Ram, claiming that his partner once unearthed a 70-karat diamond that fetched more than $50,000 – then gave Ram only $2,500.
Even if Ram is overstating his lost treasure, experts say it hints at what riches may lie beneath the hills of Pailikhand. "It's a very promising area," says Fareeduddin, a member of the Geological Society of India in Bangalore, who uses only one name. "It is probably better than all the other areas in the country."
That is no small thing. The mines of India once unearthed the Koh-i-noor – the 105-karat diamond in the center of the British crown. Whether Pailikhand might have a similar trove remains a matter of guesswork. The state shut down B. Vijay Kumar before enough research could be done.
In Pailikhand, some are not waiting. Dhan Singh Natam knows people are still looking for diamonds. "Someone has nice new clothes, and there is no other way of getting that kind of money here," says Mr. Natam, the village chief. Others use the money to get drunk.
And those who have nothing get jealous. "Everybody is suspicious of each other," says Ram. "If one goes and digs, the other will tell the police."
Before people knew about diamonds here, "we were all unified," says Natam. He hopes the issue will be resolved soon. "If it is regularized, then people can make money in a legal way."
• Mr. Sappenfield is the New Delhi correspondent for the Monitor and USA Today.
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