More than 100 workers, who earlier worked in asbestos mines, have been diagnosed with asbestosis. This came to light when around 250 workers were examined during a recent medical camp organised by the Mine Labour Protection Campaign (MLPC) at Jhadol in Udaipur.
Rana Sengupta, of the MLPC, said "There are thousands of asbestos mine workers in Jhadol. Although it has been more than 15 years that mine workers stopped working in asbestos mines in Rajasthan, asbestosis continues to kill people."
Asbestos mining was banned in Rajasthan long ago and the government ceased granting new asbestos mining leases or renewing existing leases.
However, it did not force the existing mines to stop production until the individual lease expired. In 2005, all official asbestos mining stopped in Rajasthan, almost 20 years after the ban.
More than 100 workers, who earlier worked in asbestos mines, have been diagnosed with asbestosis. This came to light when around 250 workers were examined during a recent medical camp organised by the Mine Labour Protection Campaign (MLPC) at Jhadol in Udaipur.
Rana Sengupta, of the MLPC, said "There are thousands of asbestos mine workers in Jhadol. Although it has been more than 15 years that mine workers stopped working in asbestos mines in Rajasthan, asbestosis continues to kill people."
Asbestos mining was banned in Rajasthan long ago and the government ceased granting new asbestos mining leases or renewing existing leases.
However, it did not force the existing mines to stop production until the individual lease expired. In 2005, all official asbestos mining stopped in Rajasthan, almost 20 years after the ban.
