Mahakalapada: Earning a few bucks to keep the hearth burning is no mean business for the residents of Pitapata village under this block in Kendrapara district as they risk their lives and dive deep into the Ghanagalia river to collect coal dust for a living, a report said.
The residents were identified as members of Bengali community in Pitapata village under Ramnagar panchayat of Mahakalapada block.
Coal is transported to Paradip through trains and later exported to various countries by ships from Paradip Port.
A substantial part of the coal gets washed away in rain and flows into the sea as well as into nearby Ghanagalia river and creeks. The sediments after flowing into rivers and creeks get deposited in the water.
These men and women go inside the river on a boat and dive around 5 to 10 feet deep to collect coal dust in a strainer. They prepare coal blocks for use as fuel in kitchen and sell the rest of the blocks in hotels and eateries to earn a few bucks for a living.
The daily grinding of the people poses serious threats to their lives and it is fraught with various health hazards.
Villagers Thakur Sardar, Pushpa Sardar, Pabitra Sardar said when it rains more, the coal dust flows into Ghanagalia river from Paradip.
The coal dust gets deposited in water and flows into the seas during tides. They said that they take a boat into the river and collect the coal deposits.
The coal dust often gets inside their mouth and nose while collecting it in a strainer after diving inside the river water.
The work is life threatening and is fraught with serious health hazards but they have to do it to earn a livelihood for their family.
This is not an isolated case but poor villagers of Kharinasi, Batighar, Jambu and Ramnagar panchayats also go inside the Ghanagalia river to collect the coal dust, said Namita Mandal, Saraswati Mandal, Kabita Mandal and Biswanath Mandal in the area.
The villagers after collecting the coal dust pack it in sacks and bring it to the river ghat and take it for domestic use and sale.
PNN
