Chandra Bahadur goldsmith's house is next to Mahakali river. He was 50 years old. Living in Bhimadat Municipality-11 Bhujela, his daily life starts from Mahakali. He reaches Bagar early in the morning and starts carrying gravel and sand. After working in the field all day, they return home only in the evening.
``I have been doing this work in the bagger since I was a child, even now I am living with this work,'' he said while moving gravel and sand in the bagger of Mahakali in the hot sun of the end of February.
At that time, Indian citizens used to come here to carry gravel-sand. Goldsmiths also worked with them as daily wages. Slowly started working by himself . Now they are saving 50/60 thousand in one season by deducting household expenses from that. Now there are many Nepali people like him in selecting gravel-sand in Mahakali.
The goldsmith has hired an Indian citizen to work with him on a daily wage basis . Two people together can pick one trolley of gravel and sand in two days . Gravel is sold for 2 to 1.5 thousand and sand for 1 to 1.5 thousand .
In Mahakali, there is construction material production from October to mid-May. During this period, some of them used to live in barracks. Thousands of workers are working in the fields. Those who have houses nearby eat breakfast and carry lunch. They return home in the evening.
Excavation work is being done in places from Brahmadev to Piparaiya in Mahakali river. People from the river banks and other areas also come here to pick gravel and sand. Those who have come from far away have made a hut for their residence in Bagar .
'After working all day, the wages come out,' said Sharada Nath of Bhimdatta Municipality-11 Bhujela, 'During the farming season, we work at home, other times we are working in the fields for a living.' She is working together with her neighbor Kavita Nath. Both of them have run the household expenses from this.
"Now it's time to harvest wheat, then work is done at home," Sharda said, "After that, it's very hot in Baisakh-Jeth, and I can't work in the fields." She has a family of 4. She has managed the family's expenses by working alone.
Thousands of Nepalis work in the excavation of construction materials in the riverbed of Mahakali. In some places, nets have been made. They dig and pour Miskat on the mesh with a spade. On the one hand, if the gravel is removed, the sand will be separated from the mesh. The selected gravel and sand are used in construction work.
Few people are interested in the workers who earn their daily living by working in the fields. Union, state and local level, their voice does not reach anywhere . So much so that the local government has not been able to collect the data of people who make a living by carrying sand and gravel in their daily bagger . No safety measures have been adopted for those who are doing risky work in Bagar.
