Jaipur, A major initiative for modernization of conventional bangle kilns in Bharatpur district has transformed the lives of labourers engaged in the units manufacturing the glass bangles of green colour by rescuing them from the toxic fumes causing serious respiratory diseases among them. The average life span of labourers has increased and their productivity level has gone up. Women in the rural areas wear glass bangles of green colour as an important symbol on auspicious occasions and during rituals. Labourers belonging to Kachera clan have been manufacturing and selling these bangles for several decades in Oonch village of Nadbai tehsil, Barkheda of Bayana tehsil, Jayashri of Nagar tehsil, Khoh of Deeg tehsil and Bharatpur town.
These workers traditionally make kilns of mud and soil and use tudi, made of vestiges of the mustard crop, as the fuel for heating of these kilns. The shape of these kilns is such that it produces smoke and fumes in a huge quantity as well flames caused by melting of glass. These poisonous elements directly enter inside the bodies of labourers and cause diseases like asthma and tuberculosis among them, besides reducing their average age to less than 45 years. A philanthropic organisation, Lupin Human Welfare and Research Foundation, working in Bharatpur district for the last two decades, has found a solution to this issue by producing modern kilns based on modern technology in Oonch village in collaboration with the Rajasthan Government’s Department of Science and Technology. The initiative has protected the labourers against the harmful exposure and enhanced production by two-and-a-half times. The modern bangle kilns have been manufactured with fire-resistant bricks and white sand and have a provision for 10-foot-high chimney for releasing fumes. Special care has been taken to ensure that the toxic smoke does not affect the person working on the kiln. Eighteen persons can work at a time on a modernized kiln manufactured at a cost of Rs. 3 lakhs. The utility of new kilns has led the people in other villages to follow suit and manufacture similar furnaces. The Lupin HW&R Foundation’s Executive Director, Mr. Sita Ram Gupta, said here today that the people of Kachera clan bring raw material from Ferozabad (Uttar Pradesh) and use the same tudi of mustard as fuel.
Mr. Gupta pointed out that the average age of labourers, who are not exposed to noxious fumes any more, had increased to about 70 to 80 years in the region. The Lupin HW&R Foundation has recently started the work for manufacturing two new modernized kilns in Oonch village for the benefit of about 80 families of labourers who were earlier working on six conventional kilns.
New kilns have also had a favourable impact on environment, which was earlier polluted by the conventional kilns. Mr. Gupta said a person working on new kiln now earns Rs. 400 to Rs. 500 per day against the previous average of Rs. 200 to Rs. 250.
-Kalyan Singh Kothari, Media Consultant
Mobile: 9414047744
Comments are closed.