For five years, Taramani Karmkar, 45, from Galudi village, East Singhbhum district in Jharkhand, worked in a factory (now shut down) that manufactured insulators used in electric poles. Every day, she would gather the silica dust — a by-product of manufacturing — and dispose of it and then clean the factory floor. On the morning of January 25, Taramani died of silicosis. Her sister-in-law Chinta Karmkar, who worked in the same factory, and her brother, had died of the same disease a few years ago. Today, Sanatan Gope, 35, who worked in the packaging unit of another factory in Musabani village in the same district for six years, is fighting for his life. He says he has trouble breathing and has severe chest pain while talking.
Silicosis is a chronic respiratory ailment caused by inhaling silica dust over a long period of time. Silica is the most abundant mineral compound of sand and many types of rock; silicosis develops when fragments of silica, smaller than 0.5 microns, are inhaled or ingested during silica mining or while working in factories that use silica. The particles get embedded in the alveoli and accumulate in the lungs and respiratory passages causing a thickening of the lungs; symptoms include tightness of chest and shortness of breath.
Without protective gear
East Singhbhum district, where Taramani used to work, is one of the regions in Jharkhand ravaged by silicosis, with some half a dozen villages here severely affected. While the government has not documented every individual who has died of silicosis, according to Samit Kumar Carr, General Secretary of Occupational Safety & Health Association of Jharkhand (OSHAJ), an organisation that works on this issue, over 10,000 people have died of silicosis in the last two decades, almost all of them belonging to tribal and backward communities.
File photo of a patient with an X-ray of his infected lungs | Photo Credit: ASHISH SHARMA
Jharkhand, rich in more than 30 minerals such as coal, cobalt, graphite and silica, contributes significantly to the nation’s economy. As for industrial silica, it is used in a wide array of industries, the main ones being glass foundries, construction, ceramics, and chemicals. Sports and leisure facilities also use silica, and it is a raw material for silicon metal. But workers in Jharkhand’s mines remain largely neglected. In fact, wages in these industries are so low that workers are unable to afford health checks and X-rays.
“I worked in the production and packaging line of a ramming mass factory for a few years, and I’ve been having respiratory problems since the beginning, but I didn’t pay attention,” says Gope. “We were not provided with any kind of protective equipment; several of my colleagues have this disease. It has affected my entire family.”
200 of 500 dead
According to Carr, every worker in this sector is impacted by the disease, and anyone affected by it is almost certain to die. Despite this, the government lacks a mechanism to stop or mitigate the scourge of silicosis. With the support of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the court, OSHAJ tries to provide compensation to the affected people and their families. “Most companies in the sector are named after gods — Krishna and Krishna Minerals, Gajanan Minerals, Chandrika Minerals, Ambika Minerals, Balakrishna Minerals, and Kali Maa Minerals — but work in this sector is killing the workers,” says Carr.
File photo of ‘silicosis widows’, women who have lost their husbands to silicosis | Photo Credit: ROHIT JAIN PARAS
A silica ramming unit was launched in Musabani in East Singhbhum in 2008. This unit, affiliated to the factory Taramani worked in, is also shut now, but used to employ some 500 people from Ghatshila, Musabani, Dumaria and other villages. Of them, more than 200 workers are now dead and several more have silicosis. Most companies and factory owners, however, are not concerned about workplace safety or health. Even trade unions don’t pay attention to the issue, the majority being solely concerned with salaries and incentives.
Not on record
East Singhbhum Additional District Magistrate (Law and Order) Nandkishore Lal, talking to the media in January had said, “If the relatives of the person who died of silicosis complain at the right time, then we can investigate.” But in reality, silicosis deaths aren’t even counted in government figures. Doctors are hesitant to use the term ‘silicosis’ in their reports even if the diagnosis confirms the disease.
According to Carr, many of the doctors in the area, who are hired on contract basis, are ordered not to use the word ‘silicosis’ because it could put several government departments in the dock: the Department of Health, the Department of Industries, and the JharkhandState Pollution Control Board. The medical term used instead is ‘industrial dust disease and not tuberculosis’.
In 2009, the Supreme Court issued an interim order directing the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labour and Employment to provide all necessary assistance to the NHRC for any silicosis-related action. According to the ruling, the NHRC could also investigate proven cases of silicosis and recommend emergency medical help. The NHRC can help in providing compensation to the family of the deceased. In 2010, the Jharkhand government established a cell to identify patients with silicosis. An X-ray machine was installed in a government hospital in Dumka. Ultimately, this cell did not take off.
This January, the Jharkhand government has approved the Factory Silicosis Beneficiary Assistance Scheme to provide compensation to factory workers who suffer from silicosis and to the dependents of workers who have died of silicosis. Taramani died before this could be implemented. The Jharkhand government’s January initiative is admirable, but prevention is more important. Entrepreneurs must develop dust management systems and pollution control equipment in silica industries.
It is clear that the only way to eliminate silicosis is through new safety technologies. According to WHO, in countries such as the U.S., where such measures have been taken, the incidence of silicosis has decreased dramatically. And it is for the State to provide financial assistance to private entities that can create protective dust-proof equipment that stop particles as small as 0.5 microns.
“If we want to eliminate silicosis from the root, we have to work towards automating the silica industry. Manual work will have to be stopped completely,” says Carr. “Meanwhile, the government must mandate dust-pollution control equipment, supervisors, and safety inspectors to make the workplace safer.”
The writer is an independent journalist and a student at Delhi University.
