Morbi, India – For seven years, Pradeep Kumar would go to a pottery factory in western India at 9 a.m., pour raw materials such as clay, quartz and sand into the kiln and spend the whole day in the heat and dust of the furnace.
He handled the clay at several stages, sometimes feeding it into machines and sometimes moving it to fire semi-finished pieces. It was repetitive and difficult work without any protective equipment such as gloves or masks to protect against the high temperatures.
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“It will be very difficult in the summer because the heat is at its peak,” he told Al Jazeera.
But on March 15 he lost his job. Not because of anything he or the company behind his factory did, but because the United States and Israel attacked Iran, triggering another war in the Middle East and a global fuel crisis.
Just two weeks after the war began, the pottery company he worked for closed down due to a shortage of propane and natural gas. Located in Morbi, Gujarat, the company, like all its peers in the ceramics industry, relies on these important materials.
Morbi is the center of India’s ceramics industry, employing over 400,000 people. Like Kumar, more than half of these workers are immigrants from poor Indian states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Five days after Kumar lost his job, the 29-year-old returned to his home in Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi district with his wife and three children.
“I will stay here until all the other migrant workers who returned home with us return,” he told Al Jazeera.
“We don’t want to suffer like dogs like we did during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said, referring to the migrant workers who migrated from India’s more industrialized western states to the poorer east in 2020 and 2021, with millions of hungry families, including children, walking for days, sometimes weeks, to reach their homes amid coronavirus lockdowns.
About 450 of the 600 companies closed.
Morbi, which has over 600 companies, produces about 80% of India’s ceramics in the form of tiles, toilets, bathtubs and sinks. But as the standoff continues in the Strait of Hormuz, the lifeline of India’s gas imports, at least 450 of these companies have been forced to close.
Meanwhile, the war continues, with the United States seizing an Iranian cargo ship on Sunday, even though Washington has said it is willing to hold another round of talks with Tehran in Pakistan to hammer out a deal. Tehran rejected peace talks after the ship was seized.
The development comes amid a fragile ceasefire agreed to by Iran and the United States on Wednesday after a month of fighting. But hostilities have escalated again, with Iran shutting down traffic in Hormuz, disrupting global fuel supplies and driving up oil prices.
“All manufacturing units in Morbi depend on propane and natural gas to fire kilns at high temperatures. Propane is supplied by private companies, while natural gas is provided by the state to its stakeholders. About 60% of manufacturers use propane because it is relatively cheap,” Siddharth Bopaliya, 27, a third-generation manufacturer and trader in Morbi, told Al Jazeera.
Manoj Arvadiya, president of the Morbi Ceramic Manufacturers Association, said the factories were closed until April 15 in the hope that the Middle East crisis would be resolved by then.
“But even today, only about 100 are open and most of them have not yet started their manufacturing process. It is likely to remain the same for at least the next 15 days,” he told Al Jazeera.
Arvadiya said the closure affected 200,000 workers, with more than a quarter of them having to return to their homes in other states.
India’s ceramics industry is valued at $6 billion.
“About 25% of Morbi ceramics are exported to countries in the Middle East, Africa and Europe, with a net worth of $1.5 billion. However, the slowdown in production over the past month has led to delays and, in some cases, complete halt in exports, especially to Middle East countries,” Arvadiya told Al Jazeera.
In Morbi, a plant using propane remains closed. Natural gas is available to most, but many units are yet to switch as new connections cost ₹93 per kilo while existing users get it at around ₹70.
Khushiram Sapariya, a manufacturer of propane-powered sinks, said it would wait until this month before deciding to reopen its plants.
“Then I have to call the hundreds of employees who have gone home, and I want to make sure I do that before I take on their responsibilities,” he said.
Returning to Korea with ‘Morbi Disease’
Among the employees who left Morbi last month was 27-year-old Ankur Singh.
“As my company closed down, I was not alone in contracting Morby disease, or silicosis. I often had fever and cough, but I continued to ignore it. Then, when I returned to my hometown near Patna, Bihar, after a check-up, I found out that it was silicosis,” he told Al Jazeera.
Silicosis is an incurable lung disease caused by inhaling silica dust found in rocks, sand, quartz and other building materials. It is one of the world’s oldest occupational diseases, claiming thousands of lives every year.
“The disease is widespread in Morbi as workers are routinely exposed to fine silica dust generated during ceramic production,” said Chirag Chavda, a Gujarat-based labor rights activist.
“Even people who are not directly involved in mold or kiln work often inhale particles due to poor ventilation and prolonged exposure to factory spaces,” he told Al Jazeera.
Chavda said most ceramic companies do not follow government regulations on worker safety.
Harish Zala, 40, worked in several ceramic companies in Morbi for 20 years before he contracted silicosis two years ago. He said he received no help from his employer, who allegedly abused and threatened his father when he visited the company after his diagnosis.
“Every year, at least one worker in each company dies from silicosis, and several are discovered with silicosis,” Zala told Al Jazeera. “People like me are lucky to survive, but I have no choice but to quit my job right away.”
Zala said many companies do not provide employees with written proof of employment, such as appointment letters, pay stubs or identification cards. “This is so that if workers later claim their labor or legal rights, they will not have concrete evidence to prove they were employed by the company.”
Chirag added that such workers are also denied social security under various Indian laws on salaries or pension funds. This is because it serves as proof of employment.
“As a result, workers are being deprived of their right to work due to lack of evidence even after years of work, leaving employers with little or no legal liability,” he said.
Morbi also has migrants like Sushma Devi, 56, who has not returned to her home in West Bengal because the tile company where her son works has promised to continue providing them with shelter and food while they wait for manufacturing to resume.
“I didn’t want to spend money on travel, so I gathered a few more people. At least we have our rations organized here,” she said, walking with bundles of dry twigs, wood and discarded plywood to use for cooking.
“We go out every day to collect these so that we can cook two meals,” Devi said. “We hope that the kilns and production will resume soon, but even if the kilns do not start operating soon, we would like to continue to supply rice and potatoes.”
Devi’s husband Debendar and son Ankit live in a studio apartment provided by the company. Families have access to a shared bathroom that can accommodate up to 10 families on one floor.
Meanwhile, as Kumar looks for work in Hardoi as a day laborer, his savings are running low and he fears he could fall into a debt trap.
“At first, I lived with my savings. But then I had to borrow 20,000 rupees ($214) from a relative because I needed to repair my house, and I don’t know when or how I will pay it back,” he said, looking at the renovated roof of his brick house.
