The Salt People

 

 

The Little Rann of Kutch is an inhospitable mudflat around 120 kilometers from Ahmedabad . The monsoons convert this unique geographical feature into a huge shallow saline lake . By September, the water gets soaked up and the ground starts getting hard. It is around this time that the Agaria , The Salt makers , start migrating from their villages to the Rann to start the process of salt farming.

 

Salt making is hard , back breaking work. A bore well is sunk and diesel powered water pumps push saline ground water 24/7 into a series of eight to ten ponds. The salinity of the water progressively increases with generous heat from the sun as the water moves from one pond to the next. It is in the final ponds that the salt is allowed to crystallize.  The ponds need to be made each year and the salinity of the water needs to be carefully monitored. The saturated salt water and the crystals need to be carefully raked and tended throughout the 8 month salt making season. 

Despite requiring considerable traditional skill and hard labour, Salt making is hardly lucrative for the Agaria. The long 8 month cycle is a curse. The Agaria need money for food , water and fuel . Till the salt is ready and sold , they have no option but to rely on loans and advances from moneylenders and salt merchants. Needless to say , the vicious debt trap is a way of life.

 

Salt is a low value commodity. We are used to buying table salt at around 15 – 18 Rs a kg. Raw salt is purchased from the Agaria at only 18paise per kg. and the rates decrease if the harvest improves.

From September to May , The Agaria live in makeshift burlap huts and work hard making salt through the harsh 2 degree winters and 52 degree summers. More than half of all the table salt we use is made by the Agaria people. 

Deep inside the Rann, cut off from civilization, the Agaria are out of reach from even the most basic facilities that even the villagers from tiny villages take for granted.

The wells only bring up saline water , not fit for drinking. Growing food is out of question as only a handful of inedible plants survive in the harsh landscape.  The Agaria mostly subsist on grains that are purchased during the infrequent trips to the nearest village . Vegetables  and fruits do not last and generally are a luxury they cannot afford. Needless to say , Malnutrition is a huge problem.

Constant exposure to bright sunlight reflected back from the snow white salt crystals and the crusty hard baked mudflats leads to health issues of the eyes. Agarias  in their 30s start developing cataracts .

Working in the salt water for more than 12 hours a day leads to chronic skin problems.

Heat strokes are very common. 

 

Women and children are more vulnerable to these cruel conditions . The women work as hard as the men at the pans and also need to take care of the children and the hearth.  The children , away from education , join in the family occupation as soon as they are old enough to be useful.

I hope to understand more about the lives of these brave people. And I hope to find a few ways to ease their burden a little bit. 

In March 2016 , As a token , recognizing their efforts that allow us to put salt in our food . I with a few friends pooled in a tiny amount and distributed a few hundred caps and sunglasses . This is definitely not enough , but the gifts will be useful for them , it will start conversations and I hope this will lead to bigger things.

Post monsoon , as the Salt season starts again , I hope to collect warm clothes for the Agaria . The temperature dips to 2 degrees in the winter and burlap huts are hardly any shelter. So do keep old warm clothes aside for me. I plan to send over the collection around second week of October.

Vehicles of our associates in the Rann can reach around 200 families . Please keep aside Warm Clothes only. And please make sure they are clean and wearable .  Warm clothes for kids will be much appreciated.

Looking forward to your contributions !