• “I have become like a beggar,” said Ramesh Mahali, 59, struggling to stand. He has been unable to properly feed himself or his family since the closure.
    “I have become like a beggar,” said Ramesh Mahali, 59, struggling to stand. He has been unable to properly feed himself or his family since the closure.
  • In the past year, at least 69 tea workers have died across Bundapani and four other closed tea plantations in West Bengal, according to the Right to Food campaign, an advisory committee to the Supreme Court that is monitoring the deaths.
    In the past year, at least 69 tea workers have died across Bundapani and four other closed tea plantations in West Bengal, according to the Right to Food campaign, an advisory committee to the Supreme Court that is monitoring the deaths.
  • Tea worker Prashuram Mahali leaves for a local market to sell wood from his house in Bundapani.
    Tea worker Prashuram Mahali leaves for a local market to sell wood from his house in Bundapani.
  • Tea workers look at their destroyed tea garden, where they used to work. More than 16,000 people have been left in extreme poverty at the estates, spread across the Dooars plains below Darjeeling, source of the famous brand known as the Champagne of teas.
    Tea workers look at their destroyed tea garden, where they used to work. More than 16,000 people have been left in extreme poverty at the estates, spread across the Dooars plains below Darjeeling, source of the famous brand known as the Champagne of teas.
  • Now unemployed, Lal Bahadur Paswan, left, and his wife Munnia, centre, watch from the doorway of their house in Bundapani. Deprived of health care and food rations, workers who had been scraping by less than Dh6 per day were left with nothing.
    Now unemployed, Lal Bahadur Paswan, left, and his wife Munnia, centre, watch from the doorway of their house in Bundapani. Deprived of health care and food rations, workers who had been scraping by less than Dh6 per day were left with nothing.
  • A tea worker sorts out rocks from a dried river bed in Bundapani. The government has launched emergency food and medical relief, but conditions remain grim. Despite the aid, 14 people at Bundapani alone have died in the past eight months, either from malnutrition or inadequate medical care.
    A tea worker sorts out rocks from a dried river bed in Bundapani. The government has launched emergency food and medical relief, but conditions remain grim. Despite the aid, 14 people at Bundapani alone have died in the past eight months, either from malnutrition or inadequate medical care.
  • Tea workers clean the Declepara closed tea garden under government minimum wages scheme. In estates visited by the Associated Press, many workers were clearly underfed and a number suffering from diseases commonly related to malnutrition, such as tuberculosis. Many were skipping meals.
    Tea workers clean the Declepara closed tea garden under government minimum wages scheme. In estates visited by the Associated Press, many workers were clearly underfed and a number suffering from diseases commonly related to malnutrition, such as tuberculosis. Many were skipping meals.
  • Chitramani Mahali, a tea worker, holds her son as her ailing father-in-law tries to walk out of their home in Bundapani. The workers’ situation highlights how eastern India’s tea industry has changed little since colonial times.
    Chitramani Mahali, a tea worker, holds her son as her ailing father-in-law tries to walk out of their home in Bundapani. The workers’ situation highlights how eastern India’s tea industry has changed little since colonial times.
  • Asrita Tirki puts a garland onto a photo of her husband, who died within a month for not been able to afford treatment in a hospital for his illness, as her mother in law Biro Tirki looks on.
    Asrita Tirki puts a garland onto a photo of her husband, who died within a month for not been able to afford treatment in a hospital for his illness, as her mother in law Biro Tirki looks on.

World

In pictures: Hunger haunts India’s tea estate workers

Rob Gurdebeke

September 29, 2014

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In the past year, at least 69 tea workers have died across Bundapani and four other closed tea plantations in West Bengal, according to the Right to Food campaign, an advisory committee to the Supreme Court that is monitoring the deaths. All photos taken on Aug 25, 2014 by Manish Swarup / AP Photo

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