The Lost Boys

We explore the plight of thousands of children working in the dangerous coal mines of India’s Meghalaya state.
Karma,16, has worked as a miner for over a year in India's northeastern state of Meghalaya, crawling deep inside a 'rat-hole' tunnel to dig coal for seven hours a day.

"Inside it is very unstable. The smell is awful," he said sitting on a pile of coal. "It is so dirty, and it is difficult to move. You breathe in the coal and the dust. People get sick like this. There is no water to drink and it is so muddy. It is not nice at all."

Child rights activists have reported that there are thousands of children like Karma working in Meghalaya's coal pits, because only those who are small in size are able fit in the claustrophobic tunnels. Many of them, like Karma, are believed to be from neighbouring Indian states, or from nearby Nepal and Bangladesh.

Hasina Kharbhih has been fighting the exploitation of these children for several years through her NGO Impulse. She said agents working for mine owners help traffic children to the coal-rich Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya.