- 5 weeks ago
Millions of sandstone quarry workers in India breathe toxic dust that causes a deadly lung disease. To treat the illness, workers are forced to take out loans that trap them for life.
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00:00These sandstone mines are killing tens of thousands of men.
00:08They're constantly breathing in clouds of toxic dust that cause a deadly lung disease.
00:21Most workers don't make it past the age of 40.
00:27Annu has worked here his whole life, and so did his father.
00:32But it destroyed his lungs.
00:35To pay for medical bills, workers have to borrow money from their employer.
00:39But they don't earn enough to pay off these loans.
00:42So they keep working here, even though this dust is suffocating them now too.
00:51Activists say this is a form of modern-day slavery.
00:55They can't say anything. Why did they curse?
00:58They're bonded.
01:00But as global demand grows for this sandstone,
01:04this work is creating an entire village of widows,
01:09who are now trying to pay off loans of those who are long gone.
01:19So why are conditions at these mines so deadly?
01:23And how can families get away from a job that's killing them,
01:28as long as they're chained by debt?
01:41Just a few miles from the sandstone quarries of Rajasthan lies this village.
01:48Almost every single resident here is a widow.
01:53Years of breathing dust at the quarries took their husbands' lives.
01:59Now, they have also turned to sandstone to support their families.
02:04Like 27-year-old Bimla.
02:07Why did they kill me?
02:09Why did they kill me?
02:10Why did they kill me?
02:11Why did they kill me?
02:11Why did they kill me?
02:12Why did they kill me?
02:13Why did they kill me?
02:16Why did they kill me?
02:18Now, the women spend their days chipping away at these smaller sandstone pieces,
02:24shaping them into tiles.
02:25While the men work in the heart of the quarry.
02:32Over $160 billion worth of unmined sandstone can be found in Rajasthan.
02:39The men start by cutting stones from the walls of this pit.
02:44They drill holes about a foot apart and create outlines with paint so they know where to eventually cut the
02:52rock.
03:01No one wears a mask because temperatures here can hit nearly 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
03:07night so they're constantly exposed to this fine dust it builds up deep in the
03:17lungs the body tries to wall it off with scar tissue but that hardens the lungs
03:23and over time makes it impossible for oxygen to pass through that's called
03:28silicosis a deadly disease to cover his father's care the family borrowed money from a local bank
03:41and the quarry supervisor both charge interest Anu was trying to pay this off when he got hurt he
03:52was breaking a slab just like these workers when a rock dropped and shattered his foot
04:15today he says he owes 125,000 rupees or about 1,380 dollars and paying it off has been hard
04:25because he earns just five dollars a day not nearly enough to keep up with expenses and make loan payments
04:46we couldn't track down the operator of Anu's quarry but another mine owner we contacted didn't answer
04:53any of our phone calls most workers live a couple of miles from the quarry in Bilbasti neighborhood
05:11including 32 year old Hira Ram who has been sick for eight years
05:20his 26 year old wife Shaiti looks after him
05:32and silicosis patients often grow painfully thin because they lose their appetite
05:55to afford treatment Shaiti had to send their children away to live in government hostels
06:03it's a sacrifice she's learned to live with
06:22Shaiti's neighbor's neighbor's neighbor's neighbor's neighbor's neighbor's neighbor's
06:24life is trapped in the same cycle
06:27Her husband died five years ago from the same disease that's killing Hira.
06:33But before he passed, he'd borrowed money, forcing Sapna into stonework.
06:44To pay off his loans, she had to borrow more, about 500,000 rupees or $5,500.
06:51This time from her boss at the quarry.
06:54But he charges 70% interest.
06:57And payments are due every 15 days.
07:00Meanwhile, as a woman, Sapna is paid about half of what the men make.
07:05Just 300 rupees a day or about $3.
07:09Not nearly enough to raise four children on her own.
07:16Sapna's daughter came to work with her.
07:18Until the dust took her life too.
07:29She was only 20.
07:32And now Sapna also has silicosis.
07:36But she still works when she can.
07:52Since losing her loved ones, Sapna has borrowed more, including money to pay for her family's funerals.
07:59She says she's still in debt, but doesn't know how much she owes.
08:07The women rarely meet the mine owners, who are allegedly wealthy locals with political ties.
08:13They lease the land from the government that owns it, and sometimes use false names to escape accountability.
08:20They hire contractors to recruit workers, run the day-to-day operations, and negotiate loans.
08:27She's a person to work with the money.
08:30She doesn't want to work.
08:32She doesn't want to work.
08:33She doesn't want to work.
08:34She doesn't want to work.
08:35She doesn't want to work.
08:37She doesn't want to work.
08:38In this village, Sapna is surrounded by other widows like her.
08:46Radha Bai began working at the quarry in 1983.
08:52A few years later, silicosis from mining killed her husband.
09:09The 60-year-old still mourns the partner she lost 29 years ago.
09:15To get by, Radha works in the quarry.
09:29She makes about 30 tiles a day and earns just 30 cents.
09:35Meanwhile Habas can sell a single tile for up to 60 cents, twice what Radha makes in
09:41an entire day.
09:53The widows aren't safe at the mines.
09:56They say they are constantly harassed by male workers.
10:00In many villages in India, they are believed to bring bad luck and are often shunned by
10:05their own families at occasions like weddings and baby showers.
10:10In ancient rituals, some Hindu families even burned widows alive at their husbands' funerals.
10:17The practice, called sati, was officially banned in 1829.
10:21But the stigma still exists.
10:32It's not just men and women who are trapped in these jobs, but children too.
10:36Even though child labour has been banned in India since 2016, kids above the age of 14 are legally
10:43allowed to work, but not in hazardous jobs like mining.
10:47Still, sometimes the children who end up here are even younger.
11:12Anu never married because of his debt, and he lives with his parents.
11:18Today, he's meeting his cousin Navaraji Ram for a cup of tea.
11:26Navaraji was diagnosed four years ago with silicosis too.
11:45Navaraji has also taken notes to send his children to school.
12:04He prays he can keep working for a few more years so he can pay off his debt.
12:26To save money, Navaraji has given up on treatment.
12:33But many minors get check-ups at a nearby hospital.
12:38If they have been working for 10-15 years, they can't be able to work for 10-15 years.
12:41Even if they have been working for 10-15 years, they can't be able to work for 10-15 years.
12:46For decades, doctors were misdiagnosing many patients with tuberculosis, which is treatable.
12:53But workers kept dying.
12:55So, in 2009, the Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission stepped in and discovered it was actually silicosis, a slow but
13:06certain killer.
13:08No one survives the disease.
13:22Independent estimates suggest that today, there are about 800,000 cases of silicosis across Rajasthan.
13:32And even though this disease is a worker's life sentence, the rock they dig up travels far and wide.
13:42Sandstone is easier to carve than other rocks.
13:45So it has been used in India for centuries to build fortresses and palaces which draw hundreds of thousands of
13:53tourists each year.
13:54It was even used to construct the president's house.
13:57The state's capital, Jaipur, is famous for its sandstone structures.
14:02In 2025, about $60 million worth of sandstone left the country.
14:08Many exports are bound for the US, Europe and the UK, where it's used to decorate bathrooms, driveways and cobbled
14:17roads.
14:17In the US, a single square foot tile can range from $10 to $30, which is much more expensive than
14:25concrete.
14:27But before it's exported, the stone moves through a long chain of middlemen, erasing any link to specific quarries.
14:51Rana Sen Gupta runs a local NGO called Mine Labour Protection Campaign, or MLPC.
15:00Rana Sen Gupta runs a local NGO called Mine Labour Protection Campaign, or MLPC.
15:12Rana Sen Gupta says it's hard for the government to keep track of conditions, as there are over 30,000
15:27mines cutting across Rajasthan, and just one state agency to keep watch.
15:32So the NGO fills critical gaps while looking out for workers and widows.
15:39How are you?
15:40How are you doing?
15:41How are you doing?
15:42How are you doing?
15:42How are you doing?
15:43How are you doing?
15:44How are you doing?
15:44Some people are doing this.
15:45How are you going to do this?
15:45I need to file a NHRC file.
15:47If you look for those, give me documents and any other stuff, you'll get to the NHRC.
15:55The state is legally required to pay women a one-time sum of 300,000 rupees, or
16:01about $3,300, if their husbands die of silicosis.
16:05But often, there are no employment contracts, and many women are too afraid to officially
16:11report their debts.
16:20About 85 percent of women here can't read or write.
16:25Activists say mine operators take advantage of that when they issue their loans.
16:55By law, the state should give sick workers a one-time payment
16:59of about 100,000 rupees or $1,000.
17:03And government data shows that from 2022 to 2025, more than 118,000 people in Rajasthan
17:11applied for the aid, saying they had the disease.
17:15But the state only certified about 6,000 cases and paid out just 5,000.
17:24Experts say the government routinely rejects claims to dot responsibility and limit how
17:30much it has to pay.
17:34If you go to the mining department, that would also say that labor is not my subject.
17:38And if you go to the labor department, that would also say that my subject is not my subject.
17:41If you go to the mining industry, where do you go?
18:05We emailed India's Ministry of Mines, its Labor Department and Rajasthan's State Labor and
18:12Mining Department.
18:12departments and called every number listed on their websites.
18:16Two officials hung up on us when we started asking questions.
18:20Several of our calls went unanswered, and other numbers weren't in service, including
18:26the one for Rajasthan's silicosis help desk.
18:31Still, Rana says the state could save thousands in compensation if they focused on preventing
18:37the disease in the first place.
18:39He points to quarries around the world that use machinery, like wire saws to cut rocks,
18:45so workers are not directly exposed to dust.
18:49But that equipment can be expensive.
18:51And if mine owners won't buy it, Rana says the state should, as this land still belongs
18:59to the government.
19:22But the oppression goes back centuries.
19:26Most workers here are considered Dalit or untouchables.
19:30It's the lowest rung in the Hindu caste system, which was outlawed decades ago but still exists.
19:51There they found sandstone and other rocks and began selling them.
19:56Soon, the government wanted to cash in, so it claimed ownership of all underground minerals
20:01and offered mining licenses.
20:04Historically, some were reserved for marginalized communities.
20:08But many locals couldn't afford these permits, and that opened a door for the wealthy.
20:26So on paper, the work was reserved for the lowest caste, but in reality, the mining belonged to
20:33those with money.
20:44While we were filming this video, Hira Ram was admitted to the hospital.
20:49Hira Ram Ram, sir.
20:51What's up, sir?
20:52How are you busy doing it?
20:54Are you busy?
20:54I don't know.
20:56No.
20:56When you said this to put 수 in the paper.
20:58The paper has not been put.
21:01How do you sleep?
21:03I'm enjoying the time.
21:04When you're working there, someone else can take things.
21:08Whoever is working home in your house, who can take them?
21:08Nobody is working home.
21:22Hira died a month after we filmed this documentary.
21:28He told us he'd always worry about the family and friends he would leave behind.
21:36Anu now has silicosis too.
21:40And he doesn't know how much longer his lungs will hold out.
21:45So he keeps a quiet list of the things he'd do if he ever escapes this dust before it claims
21:52his life too.
21:52He is strong, he is strong, we are in a hospital, we give a lot of help, we give a
22:05lot of help.
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