Journal of Global Resources
Biannual International Peer-Reviewed Journal
ISSN: 2395-3160 (Print)/2455-2445 (Online)

January 2021
Volume 07 (01)
Crossref DOI 10.46587

DOI: 10.46587/JGR.2021.v07i01.015

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SOCIO-ECONOMIC SCENARIO OF THE RURAL STONE CRUSHERS OF
SILIGURI BALASON RIVER BASIN
Arindom Biswas
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography,
Dumkal College, Murshidabad, West Bengal, India
Email-biswas.arindom@gmail.com
Abstract: The present study attempts to find out the socio-economic condition of the ruralstone crushers of Siliguri Balason river basin. The river Balason near Siliguri transmits thenatural resources like stone, sand and boulders. People live on the water's edge and are
involved in work like collection of stones and sand, crushing the stones into different shapes
and sizes and loading them into vehicles. While most of the rural inhabitants make their
way to the fields as expected in the countryside, residents in Balason river colony, welcome
every day of the year trekking uphill the Balason stone quarry. Men, women with children
on their backs, start and end their entire day extracting, lifting and crushing stones; using
easy handmade tools to quench the insatiable construction industry in the rapidly
urbanising city. As one of the units of informal sector, the stone crushers has beensignificantly contributing in strengthen the small scale economic sector. But the study
extremely found that the Stone crushing industry have a regressive and insignificant impact
on socio-economic conditions of workers due to low wages, lack of working and welfare
measures and environment. Accordingly, the study intended some policy implications tobalance the existence of Stone Crushing Units, employee’s welfare and environment
protection.
Key words: Stone Crushers, Construction and Crushing industry, Environment protection.
Introduction
Agricultural activities and mineral extraction are playing a vital role in rural livelihood
improvement thereby helping to alleviate rural poverty. In developing countries like India
many people are engage in occupations such as small-scale surface mining and quarrying
for their survival. Mining plays a significant role in the development of human societies. The
mining of minerals, stones and coal etc. have provided a foundation for local economies inmany parts of our country. Stone crushing industry in India is an unorganized small-scale
sector and basically a labor intensive small scale industry, where most of the proceduresare performed manually. Most of the plant and machinery has been conventional type innature and made-up locally. It is one of the sources of earning for uneducated poor
unskilled rural people. In this economic sector many people are engaged in producing
crushed stone of various sizes depending upon the local demand which acts as raw
material use for various construction activities like as construction of houses, roads,
National Highways, Bridges, Office Buildings, and multipurpose water canals etc.
As one of the units of informal sector, the stone crushers has been significantly
contributing in strengthen the small scale economic sector. Stone quarrying is one of the
key economic activities in the Siliguri Balason river basin area, supplying the bulk of stoneof varying aggregates to the construction industry within the district and beyond. It has been
proved very efficient in strengthening the local economic condition. As per records of to theSurvey of India Topographical Map the stone crushing activities along the Balason River125

stated when the river shifted its course into the present position, which previously used to
be a good fertile agricultural land with moderate forest cover. The loss of agriculture lands
local people is forced to involved in quarrying of the stone materials as an alternative sourceof income. Since 1980 the quarrying activity permitted by the govt. and basin area leases
were distributed to the local landholders.
Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the present study may be summarized in the following lines:To find out why people engage in stone quarrying in Balason river area.
To find out the outcomes of small scale stone quarrying activities in study area.
To assessing the effects of processes, institutions and govt. policies on stone quarrying
in Balason river basin.
To find out the livelihood conditions of rural stone crushers in the study area.

Materials and Methods
The present study was focused on people of working in stone crusher industry. This study
was carried out among the workers of the stone crushers located in Balason river basin in
Siliguri city of North Bengal. Stratified random sampling method is used in the present study
and employing both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Various books, journals,
newspaper and articles have been widely reviewed to construct the framework of the study.
The total selected respondents are 138 and total 35 households have selected for the
study. Primary data from households is collected through rigorous field survey of Balason
river basin area and direct interaction with the quarry workers with the help of semistructured questionnaire schedule which included questions regarding age, sex,
educational status, socio-economic status, duration of stone crusher activities, healthconditions and different environmental aspects. In depth verbal interviews and focus group
discussion have been done to acquire qualitative primary data. Trust worthy informants
have picked up from each households. The required secondary data takes from various
Journals, Newspapers, District abstracts, Census of India records and concerned
departments also. The data collected was statistically treated, using statistical software
SPSS and various cartographical representations.
Study Area
Siliguri town located at the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at a location of 26.71°N
88.43°E. The city is bounded by dense forests towards north and lifeline of Siliguri,
Mahananda River flows through the city thereby dividing it into two-halves. Being the major
right bank tributary of the Mahananda River, Balason originates from Lepchajagat and it
joins the Mahananda River near Siliguri town. The Balason River passes between thevalley of Pokhriabong, Dhotreia, Nagari Fram, Moonda Kotee, and Ambootia Tea estate ofWest Bengal. Balason is a perennial river with a basin area of 367.42 km and a length of
48.40 km.
Socio-Economic Scenario of Rural Stone Crushers
Many Economists and Geographers agreed that livelihood strategies as activities thatgenerate the means of household survival. These approaches were determined byavailable assets and the external environment. Near about 40 years ago some migrants
people were started to settle down on the Balason river bed by establishing a colony namedas ‘Balason colony’. They unquestionably choose the stone crushing work for the primary
requirements of their existence since it demands only manual labour without any kind of
capital investment. This occupation provided them a settlement on the river bed and at thesame time a new source of income.

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Age Structure
Stone quarrying not any different from other informal activities engages all groups and bothgender. From the interviewed respondents, findings showed that the age group distributionof stone crushers in the study area is shown in the table no. 1. The age of the workers may
influence their working and production capacity. Age forms one of the important
determining factor in understanding the observations, attitudes and working capacity of thestone crushers.
Table 01: Age Structure of the Respondents
No. of Respondents
Percent
29
21.01
61
44.20
35
25.36
13
09.43
138
100

Age Group
Below 20
21-40
41-60
Above 60
Total
Source: Field Survey. 2019

Figure 01: Age Structure of the Respondents
Age structure of the Respondents
Below 20

21-40

41-60

10%

21%

Above 60

25%

44%

In developing country like India stone quarrying not any different from other informal
activities engages all groups and both gender. From the interviewed respondents,
outcomes showed that 21.01 percent of the sampled respondents were aged below 20
years. Those between 21-40 years comprised 44.20 percent while those ages between 4160 years were 25 percent. Remarkably, the percentage of respondents declined withincrease in age above 40 years. It shows that only 9.43 percent workers are engaged withstone quarrying activity whose age is above 60. The use of simple tools to extract hard rockmaterial from river bed makes stone quarrying a strenuous activity.
Gender Composition
From the interviewed families and respondent’s data shows that stone quarrying activities
involved mostly men who comprised 65 percent while the women were 35 percent. The
ratio of women to men is also related to intensive activities engaged in stone quarrying.
Participation rate of women workers in the quarrying activities along with their male counter
parts is significant in the study area because of their feminine nature are engaged in stone
quarrying activities which were less straining and less paying as well. But women’s
attendance at the quarry was irregular at because they had to attend to domestic chores
which involved their reproductive roles such as child bearing, child rearing and taking careof household responsibilities.

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No. of Families

Table 02: Gender Composition of the Respondents
Male Workers
Female Workers
Total Respondents

35
Percentage

90
65.21

48
34.79

138
100

Source: Field Survey, 2019

Educational Status
Education is recognized as one of the important constituents of human resource
development. Education is an important determining factor in securing employment
opportunities in the formal sector. But in Balason river basin area colony the status ofeducation and awareness is very poor among the stone crusher workers and their families.
The percentage of literacy is comparatively low among the worker’s families.
Table 03: Educational status of the Respondents
Educational Qualifications
No. of Respondents
Percent
Illiterate39
28.26
Primary57
41.30
Secondary33
23.91
Higher secondary and above
09
06.53
Total
138
100
Source: Field Survey, 2019

The data involving to the educational background of the stone crushers is collectedin the field survey and is grouped into four categories and the same has been represented
in the table no. 3. As shown in table no. 3, 28.26 percent of the sampled workers never
had any formal education, 41.30 percent dropped out at the elementary level of primaryeducation, while 23.91 percent attended secondary school and only 6.53 percent attended
higher secondary and above institutions. To these worker’s poverty was associated withlack of adequate basic elementary education. The stone crusher workers justified their low
education status with their presence at the quarry.
Economic Conditions and Level of Income
The economic condition of the workers of Balason river basin area are classified in to four
categories basing on their monthly income levels and presented in table no. 4. It is
concluded from the table that 11.42 percent of the workers are income under or below Rs
5000 income group followed by 28.55 percent in Rs. 5000-10000 income group and 25.72
percent are under income group of Rs. 10000-15000 and rest of families’ 34.29 percent
income are above Rs 15000 as per the study of survey report.
Table 04: Economic Condition of the Respondent Families
Monthly Income
No. of Families
Percent
Below 5000
04
11.42
5000-10000
1028.57
10000-15000
09
25.72
Above 15000
12
34.29
Total
35
100
Source: Field Survey. 2019

The stone crushers workers are not at all paid proper remuneration for their hard
work. The monthly income of the families is very low as shows in the above table. The
stone based workers worked under a manager called “sardars”. The sardars paid themmoney either daily or weekly basis. On an average, the monthly income of the workers ismore or less, Rs 10 thousand only. This meagre amount is not enough to attain at least
comforts. More number of respondents of this area is placed in the income group of Rs 10
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thousand and above. Nearly 50 percent of the respondents are losing Rs.200-500 per
month as wage loss due to ill health. Workers are losing 3-4 days’ job due to ill health insome weeks. They are suffering wage loss during slack season, rainy and flood conditionof Balason River. Poverty and unhappiness were an integrated part of their life. These
factors had raised other serious problems simultaneously.
Figure 02: Economic Condition of the Respondent Families
Economic Condition of the Respondent Families
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
No of Families

Below 5000

5000-10000

4

10

1000015000
9

Above
15000
12

It is observed in the Balason area that the lack of assets to initiate personal
businesses was noted as a contributory factor to engaging in stone quarrying activities.
Some of the stone crushing workers especially women and the youth aimed ataccumulating financial capital in order to buy productive assets such as land for agricultural
production, construct houses for rental purposes or living, or buy a motorcycle, auto
rickshaw or electric vehicle to engage in the urban transport industry. These workers
lamented that stone quarrying activities was quite difficult for one to be involved for a longtime.
Health Conditions
Quarrying activities in Balason area have negative effects on the health condition of thepeople living in and around the area, the workers at the quarry companies as well as thesmall-scale stone quarry operators. Stone quarrying degrades the environmental condition
with dire consequences on human health. Due to poor economic infrastructure in this area
the physical setting of the houses is poor and devoid of basic amenities of sufficient roomand drainage systems. As a result, the houses are the key birth place of germs andgenerating a number of diseases. As many as worker’s injuries their hands, legs and onother parts of their body caused to manual stone cutting, blasting activities without enoughcare in the working area. The cut pieces of stones hit the worker with great force and cause
the wound. Apart from the above organs eyes are more unprotected to stone dust andsmall pieces of stones. The lack of provision of spectacles by the owners making workers’
conditions miserable. Noise levels are more and consistent in and around the Stone
Crushing sites of Balason river basin area. Continuous exposure to blasting, cutting,loading/unloading activities, aggravate the health problems especially ear problems of theworkers in Balason river basin area.
Living Conditions
All the workers of Balason river basin are living in Slums and near Balason colony in very
poor condition. They do not have even minimum facilities like safe drinking water, drainage,
healthy latrines and the surroundings seems to be very dirty. Only few families have had
govt. water and the others taking unsafe and polluted water resources, as a result stone
crusher workers suffering with water borne diseases as accepted the fact by the concerned
local Health Officials. Due to absence of housing facilities and lack of income to pay for129

transport these workers choose to live near to basin area or stone cutting work sites. They
are live in very small unprotected thatched houses.
Major Outcomes of the Study
The socio economic condition of stone crushers of Balason river basin has explored thedifferent livelihood outcomes as a result of stone quarrying at individual, household andcommunal level. These major outcomes are as follows:

The study shows that with an increase in income, the workers provided their families’
needs and at the same time obtained assets (human, physical and natural) that they
desired. Other livelihood outcomes noted were improved self-esteem, increased social
capital which wasn’t only important in increasing productivity but was used as a coping
approach by the workers during shocks.



Stone quarrying activities at Balason river basin was unregulated with easy entry and it
involved labour intensive activities coupled with low technology and working skills. The
use of indigenous resources coupled with productivity on a small scale and depictedcharacteristics of the informal sector of economy.

The study revealed that most of the workers who have work in stone crusher units ofBalason river basin are related to rural and economically backward areas where
employment opportunities and agricultural activities are limited and therefore it carries
greater significance in terms of socio-economic importance in surroundings of Siliguri
town and local rural areas. It is one of the easy sources of earning for the uneducatedpoor unskilled rural people.



Increase in income increases one’s well-being in terms of health, education and generalcontentment. The stone crusher workers identified the different ways money enabled
them realize other benefits. They were able to provide for their household with basic
needs and invest in assets such as; land, houses and also retail business.

In other ways the physical observations made in the sample area reveal that many ofstone crusher workers have low life expectancy even lower to country’s average.
Everyday road accidents are taking place at near the stone crushing units but nocomplaint was lodged on the grounds of reduced visibility, in the Balason river basin
area.



There was evident loss of biodiversity as workers cleared river bed materials to expose
the rock material for extraction. As the workers burnt tyres to enhance rock expansion
there was production of dust and smoke from burning rubber which was a health hazard
both to the workers and the surrounding community in Balason colony area.

The study revealed that quarrying activities also contributed to the growth ofinfrastructure such as roads, increased migrant settlement and social services such as
schools and health centre in Balason colony. Other income generating activities havealso resulted because of stone quarrying in the river basin area.

Conclusion
In India informal sector is one of the major sources of employment opportunities. But withinsufficient financial capital and easy hand-made tools small scale stone quarrying doesn’t
generate returns to commensurate the efforts and time expended. Consequently, income
from the sector is terribly low. Here in Balason river basin area crushing stone industry is
one of the informal sectors which possible to establish at lower cost of production andcontribute significantly in developing modern infrastructure of Siliguri town and otheradjacent area. Stone quarrying activities also enriched the capabilities of the rural poor and130the migrant working population. In addition to improved wellbeing, the workers were able
to be adequately nourished, improve their health and lead a life without humiliation. Small
scale stone quarrying enhances the expansion of other livelihoods both within thecommunity and within the stone workers’ home town. Because such activities are fast profit
yielding, they'll be used as a basis to reinforce rural development, since they promote
infrastructural development. But in the environmental context to ensure the sustainable
development, there is need to recognise informal economic activities such as stone
quarrying by policy makers and NGOs. This is relation to reducing shocks that affect the
livelihoods as well as those engaged in them. In the same way, environmental sustainability
should be given a high priority in an effort to preserve finite resources for the future
generations.
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