Kolkata’s 25 ha dump is literally in the middle of the city. Near its entrance is a shopping mall, an international school and a park.
Surrounding this mountain of more than 30 meters of height thousands of people strive to live. Their livelihoods depend completely on the damp: they collect rag, or they work in the fisheries and plantations around it.
Corporal punishment by teachers, domestic violence, discrimination and child labour – mostly rag picking and domestic work – are common here. Even though many children are going to school, their future is uncertain. Many end up leaving school due to economic difficulties in the family. And those who manage to progress in their studies are disadvantaged vis a vis other children since the quality of government education is poor and Indian society continues to be segregated one.
In this district government institutions are almost absent. On the one hand, the government makes a blind eye to adults and children working in the dumping ground and it prohibits any type of photo documentary inside the walls of the dump to avoid putting its negligence on the spotlight of media. On the other hand, government’s presence is only felt before elections when promises are made, though hardly ever delivered.
To learn more about organisations working here, visit Development Action Society and Save the Children India. This photography project was commissioned by Save the Children.
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