The dependence of farmers on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, a road prone to landslides, has long been a point of concern. It’s closure for three weeks due to record rainfall and landslides earlier this year left seasonal migrants stranded without work and farmers with damaged crops Tauseef Ahmad Sajid Raina Migrant workers remove rotten apples from consignments that could not be transported because of the closure of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in August. Umaisar

The migration of women from coastal Odisha to other states over the years reflects the thousands of livelihoods lost to cyclones, floods, and sea erosion. The women who migrate for work risk everything --- they travel far from their community, uprooting themselves from their culture, language and families. Will Odisha government’s newly launched mobile migrant resource centre be able to arrest distress migration? Shobha Surin Nolia Nuagaon, a fishing village in Ganjam distric

Cases fuelled by cramped, unsanitary living conditions in factory-provided accommodations, and also visits to villages, say campaigners and doctors. Migrants seek Hindi-language medical camps. Prasanth Shanmugasundaram A stretch of asbestos-roofed coir factory migrant labour shelters near Kinathukadavu area in Coimbatore district. Prasanth Shanmugasundaram/The Migration Story. COIMBATORE, Tamil Nadu:  Arjun migrated from Bhaisamau village near Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, five yea

The closure of a thermal plant disrupted small businesses in Odisha’s Talcher, serving as a cautionary tale for what lies ahead for regions dependent on fossil fuels if India doesn’t start work on a post-coal future now Roli Srivastava The shuttered storefronts near the gate of the thermal plant that shut down in 2021, in Talcher, Odisha. Roli Srivastava/The Migration Story TALCHER, Odisha: Roadside shops selling steaming hot chai and samosas were among the first to down thei

Tribal villages in Similipal Tiger Reserve have for decades been relocated outside the reserve to protect its wildlife, but 43 gram sabhas are opposing these evictions and demanding development Nidhi Jamwal “In our village in the forest, we were kings,” recalls Arjun Murmu, whose family had to relocate outside the Similipal Tiger Reserve’s core area. Nidhi Jamwal/The Migration Story SIMILIPAL TIGER RESERVE, Odisha:  “Is it possible to go back to our village in the forest?” as

Increasing plastic pollution in the sea has added to the many challenges faced by  traditional fishers, forcing them to migrate from a Nature-based livelihood to  daily-wage and blue-collar jobs Ravleen Kaur  Varsha Singh Jisha Elizabeth Nandkumar Pawar casting his net in the Thane Creek, Navi Mumbai Pic Courtesy: NandKumar Pawar   GENEVA/BHARUCH/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  ‘ Galyat saakli sonyachi, hi pori konachi ’ goes a foot-tapping Hindi film chartbuster from 1991, which featur

More than 1,000 migrant workers gather together every year in Bengaluru for a harvest festival that celebrates their Adivasi culture and helps them forget about their hardships for a while Rosey Mukherjee Women from the Oraon tribe dance to the beat of a drum to celebrate the Karam festival at St. Joseph’s University, Bengaluru. Rosey Mukherjee/The Migration Story BENGALURU, Karnataka: For David Baxla, the harvest festival of Karam is not just a celebration – it is a connecti

Bhiwandi’s powerloom sector, previously battered by demonetisation, GST and Covid, could take another beating from the U.S. tariffs, which is worrying migrant workers and factory owners Hepzi Anthony Girijesh Prajapati, 25, from U.P.’s Gorakhpur district, hopes he can save enough money from working in Bhiwandi and eventually move to Dubai. Rukmani Pujari/The Migration Story  BHIWANDI, Maharashtra:  This city of powerloom factories wasn’t Qadir Sheikh’s first choice. He had wo

In Bihar, many farmers of makhana or the global “superfood,” leave for cities to make up for the shortfall in agricultural income.  Shaba Manzoor Nuzhat Khan Large lotus leaves spread across a narrow water channel running along the fields in Murli Basantpur village, Saharsa. Shaba Manzoor/The Migration Story SAHARSA, Bihar:  Every year, when the makhana, or foxnut, season draws to a close in the ponds and wetlands of Bihar, several men and women employed in the arduous farmin

Thousands of diamond workers have left Surat as the processing hub grapples with sanctions on Russia, falling exports, and U.S. tariffs. Bansari Kamdar A worker at a diamond workshop in Surat. File picture SURAT, Gujarat: Bapu Ganpat, a diamond polisher from Una, Gujarat, lived in Surat for more than two decades, scraping together enough to support his two children. Over the last five months, after his monthly wages were halved, rent, school fees, and daily expenses had eaten

Even as thousands of informal-sector workers struggle amid the construction slowdown in Gujarat, the government spent less than 20% of its labour cess funds for workers’ welfare last year Bansari Kamdar Young labourers wait at Gurukul naka, hoping to be hired for the day’s work as dawn breaks at the labour market in Ahmedabad. Bansari Kamdar/The Migration Story  AHMEDABAD, Gujarat: Every morning at 7 o’clock, Jitubhai Somdhi walks to the Gurukul labour centre or kadia naka, o

Many young migrant workers are signing up to construct renewable energy parks in India, but wage delays and lack of amenities is forcing them to quit their jobs within months Anuradha Nagaraj An under construction solar park in Kachchh district of Gujarat. Anuradha Nagaraj/The Migration Story KHAVADA, Gujarat:  A month into his new job at the world’s largest renewable energy park in Khavada in Gujarat’s Rann of Kutch, Anawar Alam was planning his escape. Hired along with 17 o

Workers ensure a flow of funds home to Kalahandi from Kerala, transforming lives of their families, with many aiming to save enough to build local businesses Purusottam Thakur With few jobs available in Kalahandi's remote and underdeveloped Thuamul-Rampur block, young men move to Kerala in search of a steady income, July 20, 2025. Prajjwal Thakur/The Migration Story KALAHANDI, Odisha:  Lachchman Majhi remembers watching traditional folk theatre in Gopalpur village from a vant

In the Mangalajodi wetlands of Odisha’s, men migrating for work turn conservationists and guides for birding enthusiasts during tourist season  Aishwarya Mohanty   Sugyan Behera scans the wetlands, trying to spot birds on a monsoon afternoon. Aishwarya Mohanty/The Migration Story Mangalajodi, Odisha: The place is Mangalajodi wetlands. The tourist on the wooden rowing boat wanted his boatman and guide, Sugyan Behera, to pluck one of the lovely, purple water lilies blooming acr

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India’s financial capital has been a migrant magnet for decades and despite rising political tensions around the language ‘outsiders’ speak, ‘Mumbai is still home’, say migrants Hepzi Anthony Labour contractor Halim Khan with his wife Sridevi.  Pic credit: Hepzi Anthony MUMBAI, Maharashtra:   Labour contractor Halim Khan, 60, migrated to Mumbai from Lucknow about 25 years ago. He calls himself ‘angootha chaap’ (illiterate), but has picked up Marathi, Tamil and Kannada during

Mansi Bhaktwani The Migration Bulletin is a monthly round-up that compiles news and developments pertaining to India’s migrant workforce. In this month's bulletin, we track the return of a migrant worker’s body from Israel, unseasonal showers washing away wages of brick kiln workers, and more. Telangana worker’s dead body brought home amid Israel-Iran ceasefire  The body of Ravinder Revalla, a migrant worker from Telangana who had passed away due to a heart attack in Israel l

Migrant workers from Bihar are spending weeks' wages and sacrificing festival visits to ensure their names remain on the electoral rolls amidst the ongoing special intensive revision Umesh Kumar Ray Mukesh Paswan with his wife at his home in Akbarpur village in Nalanda. Umesh Kumar Ray/The Migration Story Nalanda, BIHAR : Mukesh Paswan was working at a rice mill in Hyderabad when his wife, Geeta Kumari, made a distress call from Akbarpur village in Bihar’s Nalanda district –