A salty survival story from a scalding Rajasthan summer

Uzman and other salt miners in Phalodi endure scorching temperatures to extract salt, facing risks and health issues, with little support or safety measures.

It is 8am, two hours after sunrise, and yet 40-year-old Uzman Khan’s movements have a sense of practised trepidation. First, the only body part he dips in to the shimmering saline water in front of him is his toe. He retracts quickly — the water is scalding, and pain emanates through the burnt pores of his wrinkled feet. But this is his job, one he has done for two decades. He takes a deep breath, steps into the ankle-deep water and stands stock still for a few seconds as his body adapts to the searing temperature. And then he begins to move, quickly and more urgently — spade in hand, he begins to shovel salt that lies beneath the water; salt that is the sustenance for families like his; salt that keeps Phalodi afloat.

Rajasthan is India’s third largest salt-producing state. But unlike Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, much of its extraction comes from saline groundwater found in Phalodi, and the Sambhar lake. (HT Photo)