JAIPUR: Bhagwati Mathur, a housewife in Vaishali Nagar, Ajmer, was diagnosed in December, 2012 as suffering from mesothelioma – a lung cancer caused by inhalation of particles found in asbestos mines. Not only mine workers, even others living in the vicinity of these mines are found to be affected. Mesothelioma is a more advanced version of asbestosis, which affects the lungs of those long exposed to dust from asbestos mines.

In a letter of May last year, the district collector of Ajmer explained to Mathur’s husband Kanwar Lal Mathur that only mineworkers were entitled to the Rs1 lakh compensation that the government offers those suffering from silicosis. Besides, all those availing this grant must, under the rules, be certified as patients by the Pneumoconiosis Board. Read more

Courtesy: The Times of India