In pictures: The life and labour of tannery workers in Kolkata

An Indian boy plays with a scooter next to a woman sitting at a lane near a leather goods workshop in Kolkata. Piyal Adhikary / EPA

An Indian labourer douses buffalo leather with a salt solution at a tannery workshop in Kolkata. Piyal Adhikary / EPA

Wet leather is dried in the sun at a tannery workshop in Kolkata. Hundreds of tanneries are operated in the city’s Tiljala, Topsia and Tangra districts. They are mostly run by local families living and working under poor conditions. Piyal Adhikary / EPA

Indian boy Hassan Malik works in a leather shoe factory at Topsia in Kolkata. Piyal Adhikary / EPA

Indian Muslim students attend lessons at a privately-run school near a leather tannery workshop in Kolkata. Piyal Adhikary / EPA

Indian bag maker Latif Muhammad (L) checks a finished leather bag while another worker is busy with stitching at a leather goods workshop at Topsia in Kolkata. Piyal Adhikary / EPA

Indian labourers handle dry leather pieces to soften them at a tannery workshop in a lane in Kolkata. Piyal Adhikary / EPA

An Indian labourer unloads a truck of leather waste that is boiled to prepare organic fertilizer near a tannery workshop in Kolkata. Piyal Adhikary / EPA

Indian labourers at work in a leather tannery workshop in Kolkata. Piyal Adhikary / EPA

Indian labourers stitch buffalo leather at a tannery workshop in Kolkata. Piyal Adhikary / EPA

An Indian boy waits for his parents at his home near a leather goods workshop in Kolkata. Piyal Adhikary / EPA

An Indian labourer wears protective covering at work in a leather tannery workshop in Kolkata. Piyal Adhikary / EPA

The leather industry occupies an important place in the Indian economy. It is an employment intensive sector with a vast potential for growth and exports but also a pollution intensive industry that relies on cheap labour. Tanning has a long history in India and has been a traditional trade for the poorer groups of the population.