Four or five train loads of 60 containers ( locally called racks ) arrive at Kashi Station, just outside of Varanasi, each week. Each ‘rack’ weighs 70 tons. Some 200 workers are employed on a daily basis to unload the trains and to fill lorries which distribute the coal around Uttar Pradesh. The workers are paid 70 rupees per ton/day which converts to less than £1 per day in sterling. The majority of workers travel from the state of Bihar, famed for its hard working workforce.
The site is approximately 100 yards from the Ganges. The gallery is here.