Untold Stories
Gold from Dust in Proddatur
In Proddatur in Andhara Pradesh, dubbed ‘Town of Gold’ for its large-scale gold businesses, Sudhakar Reddy uncovered a trade that involved sieving dust on the roads for a living. The business, masi kattu, is a family trade for many Dalit families in this town. Masi kattu workers go through waste in drains where gold dust from the clothes of goldsmiths gets collected. He highlighted the adverse effects that mercury, which is used in the purification process, can have on the workers in this trade. This story brought the town into focus for many readers.
