The New Nation - Internet Edition

The man stands in chest deep water after surfacing with a loaded basket that contains rocks which are dumped into the nearby anchored boat. Sweat and grime plaster his sunburned visage. His little son within their wooden boat strains hard to haul in the heavy basket. This for them is a daily ritual. They are the stone collectors of Jaflong.

Life on either side of the border has a clear disparity: while the day labourers who work as stone collectors on the Bangladeshi side struggle with the pressures of everyday survival, residents on the Indian side lead a relatively comfortable and stress-free existence. North of the border one would find tranquility while the south is bustling with activity. Throughout the day children here help their parents load the boats while in the north children easily find time to play, fish or bathe.

Jaflong in the Sylhet District of the country is a major vantage point where the rushing waters of the River Pyong wash down huge quantities of rocks and pebbles from the hills of Meghalaya (India) into this picturesque haven in Bangladesh. It is hardly a wonder in this respect that the stones of Jaflong attract workers from the stone collection trade.

At dawn hundreds of barefooted laborers with spades, strainers and dhoolies (baskets to filter out rocks from the rubble of stones and pebbles) gather at Bolla Ghat. In recent years the rubble is dug out from the river bed (10 to 20 feet below the water's surface) by hydraulic excavators. Even two years ago the laborers used to collect the mixture of stones and pebbles from the same depth (as today) of the river bed with a bucket. A deep breath held for one minute helped them to acquire one basket of stones. Today they earn the same amount of money but with much less effort. A laborer here earns only 200-300 taka per day.

Year after year these men and their families (women and children are also found working alongside the men) toil to scrape out rocks from the river bed only for the sake of a livelihood. So far there have been no major changes in their lot. Apart from a few minor changes work is carried on in the same process as it was done in their forefathers' time. With no other alternative, for them this is the only means of survival. With their back-breaking hard labour every day they contribute to load with rocks hundreds of trucks, which head out from Jaflong to feed the expanding demands of the country's construction industry.

Photos & Text: Tanvir Ahmed / DrikNEWS

Text Edited By Humaira Fatima / DrikNEWS