Earning a living by collecting coal

Women and children extracting coal from the Sumeshwary riverbed in Durgapur, Netrakona. But they can not sell it to coal suppliers who remain out of reach due to bad road communication. As a result they often do not get price despite hard labour. Improved road communication can help change their lot.PHOTO: JAHANGIR ALAM

But they are being deprived of fair price of coal because of absence of coal suppliers who cannot reach them due to bad road communication.

Coal usually rolls down along with sand from India in the rainy season. People collect the mineral resource by digging the Sumeshwary riverbed in dry season.

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Women and children come to collect coal early in the morning and return home before sun-set. About 10 kilometre area in the Sumesh-wary riverbed stretching from Bijoypur to Birishiri in Durgapur upazila is rich with coal.

An efficient coal collector collects one to one-and-a-half maund coal each day. They sell their collected coal to local businessmen in exchange of Tk 70 to 80 only. About 30 to 40 tons of coal are collected daily from the river.

People of Baromary, Buranga, Dashal, Ghagra, Balikandi, Thakurbarikandi, Majiail, Jianagar, Mujibnagar, Dhanstra, Farongpara, Debthail, Shibgonj, Bhulipara and Bijoypur of Durgapur upazila meet up their daily needs by collecting coal.

Local coal traders earn a good profit by selling a maund of coal to brick field owners at between Tk130 to 140.

Because of bad road communication, coal suppliers can not come to Durgapur to buy coal. For this reason, collectors are being deprived of fair price of coal.

Amena Begum,35, of Majiail village told The Daily Star she has been collecting coal from the Sumeshwary for the last five years. Everyday she collects one to one-and-a-half maund of coal. In absence of coal suppliers, local businessmen purchase her coal in exchange of poor price.

Teenage Rehana Khatun of village Shibganj has been collecting coal for the last six years. She told this correspondent she earns merely Tk 70 to 100 by selling one to one-and-a-half maund coal everyday.

Local coal trader Amir Hossen told The Daily Star they are compelled to sell coal to brick field owners at poor price due to bad road communication system. Coal suppliers are unable to reach the spot due to this reason, he told.

According to another coal trader Ali Akbar, they are depriving the coal collectors because they have to sell it to brick field owners at cheap. Both the coal collectors and businessmen will be benefited through improvement of road communication, he added.