Tag: Bhilwara

Contract workers, Labour, Public health, Rajasthan

A miner recounts

anumehay

Every year, the mines slows down and stops at the onset of monsoon, and then resume after harvest. Right now, the stone pits are still full of green water from the rains.The work is on pause for everyone to return from home after Diwali. Many young men, a few women whose homes are nearby, who did not leave, sit around tea shops, and in the common spaces waiting. When they speak, they are not in the mood of a break or rest, as they wait for the full mine operation to start in another fifteen days. Over and over, they … Continue reading A miner recounts

Footlebumbing

Oldest mountain

anumehay

Bijolia Khurd khaan. Sandstone quarries in Bhilwara, Rajasthan. Bijolia in Bhilwara and Dhabi in Boondi have some of the oldest and largest stone quarries on the Aravalli, India’s oldest mountain ranges, now eroded to stubs. Workers who live by the quarries and mines work with their hands, using chisels and hammers to cut stone into slabs, which contractors measure at the end of the work day. They earn Rs 3 for each foot of stone they cut, in eight hours, today, Subhash Mehr, Rajesh Yadav, Keshu Ram Jogi cut 70-80 feet stone at Sukhpura khaan. Continue reading Oldest mountain