Porbandar is perhaps best known as the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi. This coastal city has many beaches but has not seen much development. The wind mills here are a sight to behold. There are not many schools around here. Each village lies far away from one another. Most of the villagers are basically farmers. One can see people carrying goods on their motorcycles from one place to another. Transport system is yet to develop here. The roads are in very bad conditions and so was the transport system Dirty unwashed buses are a regular sight in almost all places, be it Porbandar , Somnath or Dwaraka.
Another common sight is the cows roaming around freely. Every household has milk and curd in abundance. I have seen a strange sight during my morning walk at Somnath. A family was having their breakfast of milk and jelabis! Never in my life have I seen any community that eats so much sweet dish.
Most of the villages are based on clans or gotras as they are called. And regarding education, it’s better not to compare it with our Kerala; most of the villagers are either illiterate or school drop-outs. The ratio of schools be it L.P, U.P or High school, is at times less than 1:3 per villages. In spite of being a backward region, the people are not impoverished here. Almost all families engage in cultivation of crops like wheat, millet and Ragi. The coconut trees and banana plants along the coastal region contributes to the lush and green here. You can see many slums in the western region. Like everywhere else, most of these slums are dirty and lack all basic facilities like sanitation and water supply. Most of the rivers have become the dumping areas of toxic waste from the factories. The one positive feature that I noticed is that it is an industrial-friendly city. Industrial management here is praiseworthy. It has helped in developing farming too. Another important factor that needs to be mentioned is major irrigation projects that have come up to help cultivation.
As the birth place of the father of the Nation, it has a significant tourism-led infrastructure and economy. Other tourist attractions include the Kirti Mandir, Sri Hari Mandir, Sudama Mandir and the Rajmahal Huzoor Palace. So it is well connected to other cities in Gujarat.
