Hungry Shells....... - a photo on Flickriver

            The unknown story of the broken sea shells collectors

At Uadaypur sea beach (3km from Digha at the Bengal-Orissa state border), hundreds of poor villagers (80% of them are women) gather on a particular time of the day at the peak of the low tide. They all carry a small net basket for collecting broken shells following the line of the waves. When the baskets are half-filled they empty their catch at the beach and go back to the waves again. Finally the shells are packed in bags for selling. After two hours of continuous hard work, two people together can fill only a 30-kg bag selling for INR Rs 30 (USD 50 cents) only.

The shells are rich source of calcium carbonate, use in feeder mainly at the India's growing poultry industry. Also, it has great demand in making the white (lime) paint. Traders and middlemen are always waiting to exploit these poor villagers. They make on-the-spot payment, collect the bags and transport them to the local market for a hefty profit of 300% by selling each bag for at least Rs 100 (USD $ 2). 

I personally talked to the shell collectors and found no Govt. intervention to stop this exploitation. The state government can easily intervene by forming a cooperative and collecting the shells themselves by their nodal agencies with a reasonable price.

Udaypur Sea Beach, Bay of Bengal
Images of Bengal, India

Taken in: India / West Bengal / Digha (show map)

Taken on: November 26, 2012

Tags:

broken sea shells

collectors

villagers

women

low tide

basket

collecting

waves

calcium carbonate

feeder

poultry

industry

lime paint

traders

middlemen

exploitation

government intervention

sea

beach

Digha

Bengal

Orissa

Bay of Bengal

India

Tamron SP AF 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC USD

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Sets appears in: • Silhouettes • Hungry Shells

Camera: Nikon D7000, f/18.0, 1/6400 sec, 300mm (=450mm), ISO 3200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D7000
Aperture:	f/18.0
Exposure Time:	1/6400 sec
Focal Length:	300mm (35mm equivalent: 450mm)
ISO:	3200
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Not Defined
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Scene Capture Type:	Landscape
Gain Control:	High gain up
Contrast:	High
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Ver.1.03
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