"Meghalaya Coal Mining" (by Shailendra Pandey)

INTO THE ABYSS The rat holes look like bottomless pits when one is descending into them. As the coal carts go up, they eclipse the light. One slip and they can crash, causing certain death. Children spend their days crouched in a hole, digging for coal. Mossy, wet, precarious - the 150 feet deep coal pits in the Jaintia Hills are death traps. These slippery ladders lead into rat holes too small for adults to work in, at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 12/6/2010.

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:46:50 +0000

INTO THE ABYSS The rat holes look like bottomless pits when one is descending into them. As the coal carts go up, they eclipse the light. One slip and they can crash, causing certain death. Children spend their days crouched in a hole, digging for coal. Mossy, wet, precarious - the 150 feet deep coal pits in the Jaintia Hills are death traps. These slippery ladders lead into rat holes too small for adults to work in, at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 12/6/2010.
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Caption: MINOR MINERS (Rat Hole) : Anil Subha, 17, Assam: Anil is busy heating his equipments outside the quarry under a tin shade. "The iron rods need to be heated and then sharpen. Otherwise it will be difficult to dig out coal in rat holes," he explains . Children spend their days crouched in a hole, digging for coal. Mossy, wet, precarious - the 150 feet deep coal pits in the Jaintia Hills are death traps. These slippery ladders lead into rat holes too small for adults to work in, at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 12/6/2010.

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:46:50 +0000

Caption: MINOR MINERS (Rat Hole) : Anil Subha, 17, Assam: Anil is busy heating his equipments outside the quarry under a tin shade. "The iron rods need to be heated and then sharpen. Otherwise it will be difficult to dig out coal in rat holes," he explains . Children spend their days crouched in a hole, digging for coal. Mossy, wet, precarious - the 150 feet deep coal pits in the Jaintia Hills are death traps. These slippery ladders lead into rat holes too small for adults to work in, at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 12/6/2010.
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MINOR MINERS (Rat Hole): Manoj Rai, 15, Nepal and Vinod Rai, 17, Nepal: Youngest in the gang Manoj has just given his 10th examination in Bhojpur district of Nepal. His cousin Vinod has been working in Jaintia Hills for seven months at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 12/6/2010. Photo by Shailendra Pandey/Tehelka

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:46:50 +0000

MINOR MINERS (Rat Hole): Manoj Rai, 15, Nepal and Vinod Rai, 17, Nepal: Youngest in the gang Manoj has just given his 10th examination in Bhojpur district of Nepal. His cousin Vinod has been working in Jaintia Hills for seven months at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 12/6/2010. Photo by Shailendra Pandey/Tehelka
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MINOR MINERS (Rat Hole) : The dangerous and suffocating rat mines of Meghalaya are worked by 70,000 child miners, children spend their days crouched in a hole, digging for coal. Mossy, wet, precarious - the 150 feet deep coal pits in the Jaintia Hills are death traps. These slippery ladders lead into rat holes too small for adults to work in, at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 11/6/2010.

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:46:50 +0000

MINOR MINERS (Rat Hole) : The dangerous and suffocating rat mines of Meghalaya are worked by 70,000 child miners, children spend their days crouched in a hole, digging for coal. Mossy, wet, precarious - the 150 feet deep coal pits in the Jaintia Hills are death traps. These slippery ladders lead into rat holes too small for adults to work in, at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 11/6/2010.
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MINOR MINERS: The dangerous and suffocating rat mines of Meghalaya are worked by 70,000 child miners, Like many kids, Sunil Tamang, 14, spends his days crouched in a hole, digging for coal during his work at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 12/6/2010.

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:46:50 +0000

MINOR MINERS: The dangerous and suffocating rat mines of Meghalaya are worked by 70,000 child miners, Like many kids, Sunil Tamang, 14, spends his days crouched in a hole, digging for coal during his work at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 12/6/2010.
view full-size image

MINOR MINERS: The dangerous and suffocating rat mines of Meghalaya are worked by 70,000 child miners, Like many kids, Sunil Tamang, 14, spends his days crouched in a hole, digging for coal during his work at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 12/6/2010.

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:46:50 +0000

MINOR MINERS: The dangerous and suffocating rat mines of Meghalaya are worked by 70,000 child miners, Like many kids, Sunil Tamang, 14, spends his days crouched in a hole, digging for coal during his work at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 12/6/2010.

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:46:50 +0000

Caption: MINOR MINERS (Rat Hole) : The dangerous and suffocating rat mines of Meghalaya are worked by 70,000 child miners, children spend their days crouched in a hole, digging for coal. OPEN SESAME Sundar Tamag, 16, ran away from his home in Nepal in search of a better future. Now heâ€™s trapped in a worse one. â€˜The first few months were terrifying,â€™ he says , at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 11/6/2010.

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:46:50 +0000

Caption: MINOR MINERS (Rat Hole) : The dangerous and suffocating rat mines of Meghalaya are worked by 70,000 child miners, children spend their days crouched in a hole, digging for coal. OPEN SESAME Sundar Tamag, 16, ran away from his home in Nepal in search of a better future. Now heâ€™s trapped in a worse one. â€˜The first few months were terrifying,â€™ he says , at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 11/6/2010.
view full-size image

MINOR MINERS (Rat Hole) : Children spend their days crouched in a hole, digging for coal. Mossy, wet, precarious - the 150 feet deep coal pits in the Jaintia Hills are death traps. These slippery ladders lead into rat holes too small for adults to work in, at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 12/6/2010.

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:46:06 +0000

MINOR MINERS (Rat Hole) : Children spend their days crouched in a hole, digging for coal. Mossy, wet, precarious - the 150 feet deep coal pits in the Jaintia Hills are death traps. These slippery ladders lead into rat holes too small for adults to work in, at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 12/6/2010.
view full-size image

MINOR MINERS (Rat Hole) : Children spend their days crouched in a hole, digging for coal. Mossy, wet, precarious - the 150 feet deep coal pits in the Jaintia Hills are death traps. These slippery ladders lead into rat holes too small for adults to work in, at Jaintia Hills, Coal Mines in Meghalaya on 12/6/2010.

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:46:21 +0000