Madhya Pradesh: Glittering Diwali for four diamond diggers of Panna

BHOPAL : Yet another man dug out a diamond , about 7 carat weight, from a shallow mine of Panna . He is the fourth man, all of them from a lower income group, in the last 10 days. All of them are too happy to get diamonds before Diwali.
Anyone can excavate diamond from 10 meters by 10 meters shallow mines in Panna after depositing a fee of Rs 200. Lakhs of people have tried their luck but only a handful of people succeed.Sandeep Sahu, an unemployed youth , took only 16 days when he struck diamond from Krishnakalyanpur village He was allotted the mine on October 21. On Thursday he got the diamond weighing 6.92 carat.
“ This is a gem quality diamond and may fetch about Rs 10 to 12 lakh”, sources in the diamond office of Panna said.
In the last 9 days, three more people dug out diamonds. Balbeer Yadav, a marginal farmer, got 7.02 carat carat diamond on October 29. He was followed by Dilip Mistri and Lakhan Yadav who got 7.02 carat and 14.98 carat diamonds respectively. Like Balbeer, both of them are marginal farmers. All the diamonds were deposited with the district administration.
“In all, these diamonds may fetch a price of about Rs 80 lakh”, sources said.
The 14.98 carat diamond of Lakhan is the costliest and may fetch an amount of about Rs 40 to Rs 50 lakh.
“ I am happy and will use the money over the education of my children”, he said.
All the diamonds along with over 200 more will be placed for auction to be held in Panna in December, the first auction of the precious stones after the pandemic hit the world.
“ The last auction was held in January .Since then over 70 more diamonds have been dug out in Panna”, diamond inspector Anupam Singh said.
If the diamonds are auctioned, the government will deduct its 12 % royalty and the remaining amount is handed over to the diamond owner.