STNMTZ_20220319_12231.TIF | George Steinmetz

Locals have been harvesting salt from evaporation ponds on Sambhar Lake,
in Rajasthan, India’s largest inland salt lake, for some 1,500 years, and the seasoning has played a significant role in Indian history. Gandhi broke Britain’s lucrative monopoly on salt production in India after his famous Salt March protests of 1930, which helped galvanize Indians against the British Raj. Today erratic rainfall and the diversion of water from the lake’s various tributaries have cut production from the old government-owned evaporation ponds. Privately owned saltworks like these (above), fed by an estimated thirteen thousand illegal tube wells, are thriving, but drawing down groundwater that once fed surrounding farms and the lake—a critical wetland and overwintering ground for pink flamingos. Salt workers here, who carry salt baskets on their heads in the 100°F heat, earn 250–300 Indian rupees each day, less than US $4.00 when this photograph was taken (right). Photographs: March 2022

Filename: STNMTZ_20220319_12231.TIF
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Contained in galleries: Feed the Planet

Locals have been harvesting salt from evaporation ponds on Sambhar Lake, <br />
in Rajasthan, India’s largest inland salt lake, for some 1,500 years, and the seasoning has played a significant role in Indian history. Gandhi broke Britain’s lucrative monopoly on salt production in India after his famous Salt March protests of 1930, which helped galvanize Indians against the British Raj. Today erratic rainfall and the diversion of water from the lake’s various tributaries have cut production from the old government-owned evaporation ponds. Privately owned saltworks like these (above), fed by an estimated thirteen thousand illegal tube wells, are thriving, but drawing down groundwater that once fed surrounding farms and the lake—a critical wetland and overwintering ground for pink flamingos. Salt workers here, who carry salt baskets on their heads in the 100°F heat, earn 250–300 Indian rupees each day, less than US $4.00 when this photograph was taken (right). Photographs: March 2022