But it is not just about the health impacts, the people of the town are struggling with their livelihood as well. About 260,000 people still live in the KGF and due to lack of work in their locality, they end up regularly traveling to Bangalore for work.
Valaras M., a 22-year-old local resident, mentioned that he travels to Bangalore to work as a daily wage labourer. He stated that a major portion of his earnings is spent on travel, and he works in Bangalore for two consecutive days, comes back home the day after, takes rest, and then follows the same routine.
He highlighted that it doesn’t matter even if they are educated since there are no jobs nearby. “After the closure of mines, no companies are operating in the area, apart from Bharat Earth Movers Limited, but some people have also started driving auto-rickshaws and set up shops, Valaras said.
Many of the former employees of the BGML allege that they are getting no or low pension. Another resident K. Subramani, 67, who used to work as a supervisor in the mines, stated that he earns about Rs. 650 as pension every month. He complained that the BGML had promised that the amount would be raised to Rs. 3,000 but that never happened.
Esavel, who worked underground in the mine for 11 years, stated that he was forced to voluntarily retire before the mine shut down but he doesn’t get any pension and was forced to work as a daily wage labourer to make ends meet. “We suddenly became untouchables after the closure of mills and the government is ignoring us like we don’t exist,” Esavel added.
The COVID-19 pandemic has marginalised the people further as the trains are not functional. Valaras said he has been sitting idle at home since the start of the lockdown and is facing financial difficulties.
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