The sight of a group of labourers working in the cold Indian Himalayan desert in Ladakh repairing world¡¯s highest roads is indeed breathtaking. A group of 13 men stationed near Chang La pass at the height of 5360 metres have little experience of working in the extreme weather as all of them are from low-lying of Jharkhand in eastern part of India.
The group of men are charged to keep the key tourist route to the picturesque Nubra Valley and Pangong Lake in the better condition as the snowstorms occur throughout the year.?
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The workers will get Rs 40,000 each for the hard work for repairing road at such a height and this is a considerable sum in the country given how in 2011, more than 21 percent of the 1.3 billion population used to live on less than two dollars a day, news agency?AFP reported.
"There is not much work there (back home). I don't find any work difficult," said Sunil Tutu, 30.?
The workers work six days a week with shovels and old sacks to move rocks and sand. They work with local Ladakhi workers and some of them are women. Sunday is the only day they get time to shave and take bath as well as doing their laundry.
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Tea and bread is their morning breakfast before the truck take them to the work site and they return to their housing tents after sunset and end their day after meal of rice and lentils.
The kerosene stoves are the medium to cook food and as tents don¡¯t have electricity and they have to rely upon these stoves to heat the icy water. But their resolve is strong.?
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"If given a chance I will come back here again," said Sushil Tutu, 35. "I like road work... I like it anywhere."?
Rajshekhar, 33, another works says that working in these tough and inhospitable conditions helped them save more money for future.?
"Back home we are unable to save money, we eat and drink and the money gets over. The work is good (here), I like the snow and the mountains. I don't like the cold though."