Breathing in death: How mining dust in the Aravallis is killing residents

Manisha (27), sits with a group of women on a mattress laid out in one corner of the veranda of her house in Syalodra village in Rajasthan’s Sikar district. In the other corner are stacks of large oxygen cylinders that her husband, Manjeet (32), used to breathe until his recent death.

Manjeet was a labourer at a nearby stone crushing unit, and for more than three years he had silicosis, a debilitating, incurable lung disease. It is caused by inhaling silica dust, fine particles that are a by-product of mining operations such as drilling, blasting and stone crushing in the region.

Residents say silicosis has claimed the lives of more than 50 people over the years in Syalodra, which is part of the Aravalli range.