The Cause

India ranks third in the production of salt in the world next to USA and China. The Average annual production is about 20.31 million tonnes against the average annual world production of 240-250 million tonnes. Out of the estimated total annual production of India, 76% is harvested by the Agariyas of Rann of Kutch, Gujarat. On the economic front Kutch has the largest salt desert in the world, which makes the region a major player in the world market.

Rann of Kutch is a seasonal salt marsh located in the Thar desert in Gujarat just 10km from the Arabian Sea and Situated about 130 km from Ahmedabad in India’s Gujarat state. This is the land of the Agariya people, traditional salt farming community, who have lived here for centuries, knowing only one means of livelihood – salt production.

From October to June, Agariyas, a hardworking community that makes the desert its home work day in and day out under fierce sun, to extract the whitest salt in the world. The salt process starts after rains have concluded. In the monsoon months, Rann of Kutch is submerged in sea water. As the water recedes from October, the Agariyas move in to set up square fields to grow the salt. They dig wells to pump out the briny groundwater and fill the fields where the natural evaporation process leaves behind white crystals. In winter, the harvest season begins in the salt fields, which are now silvery white with raw salt. They labour hard in the harsh sun and briny waters with no protective gear, earning very little for each kg of salt produced They pay a high price for working in such harsh conditions. According to a study, the farmers suffer from skin lesions, severe eye problems owing to intense reflections off the white surfaces, and tuberculosis. A salt worker of Kutch seldom lives beyond 60 years.

During the peak harvesting season, the Agariyas set themselves up in makeshift shacks near the salt fields. Their working period on the farms lasts upto 8 months, begining in early October when the rains have concluded. They reach their respective farms using a tractor pulley carrying with them all the materials like bamboo, wood, dry grass, sacs, ropes, plastics for the rains, canvas, water, diesel, pumps from their respective villages close by. Once onto field, they take about to 3-5days to create their shelters, their homes for the next few months. One of the many problems they face are the damp land and the insects, which at times forced them to leave their work, hindering the process. Others include Building material catches fire easily, the house gets blown away, exteriors and gaps allow water to pass through, extreme temperatures in the house, expenditure in buying materials every year.

Having established the shelter, their families make their way to the shelters from the neighbouring places. Agariya’s being a working class community, they move in large groups with number of people in a family dwindling from 8-11.

After the region has dried up, the work begins at full stretch, which is extracting the brine from the ground, evaporating and crystallising to form salts. The men folk are on the fields for the majority of the time, whereas the women and the children stay back in the tent. In general salt farmers have to work and spent most of their life in Agar (salt Pan), they make small makeshift huts to sleep, keep some of their luggage and set their local kitchen. Even new life during childbirth comes in this world behind these dry salt hills. An estimated 50,000 Agariyas- salt farmers, their families and dependents – are engaged in salt farming. Needless to say, the salt pan workers on the periphery of Rann of Kutch have been the unsung beasts of burden of the salt industry since decades.

The salt farmers live on such small margins and under extreme conditions. We aim to design a low cost, easily deployable and a compact yet comfortable self standing shelter for those hardworking salt farmers.