Karauli (Rajasthan): For 10 years, Ghanshyam underwent treatment for tuberculosis (TB) as his persistent coughing and chest pain refused to go away. But in 2011, the stone quarry worker was told that he is in the last stages of silicosis – an insidious and incurable lung disease that has claimed the lives of many mine workers across Rajasthan.
Twenty-five years of working in the sandstone mines of Karauli district in Rajasthan and inhaling the silica dust have reduced Ghanshyam, 50, to a skeleton. On a liquid diet for the past many months, the father of two cannot stand and always moans in pain.
“There is no hope for us now. We are in debt as around Rs.4 lakh has been spent on his treatment. Had he been diagnosed with silicosin (silicosis) on time, life wouldn’t have come to this,” Dayabai, Ghanshyam’s wife, told a visiting IANS correspondent.
Dayabai has come to terms with the reality that she will lose him any time.
Karauli is one of the 19 districts in Rajasthan where thousands of mine workers are battling with silicosis caused by inhaling dust containing crystalline silica. Read more
Courtesy: india tv
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