Before dawn breaks over the Indian industrial hub of Surat, textile worker Sibaram Pradhan is already awake, sitting on the floor in a cramped room he shares with as many as nine other men. Sweat beads on his forehead even at 6 a.m., the Associated Press reported June 25.
Pradhan, 35, works in a power loom factory that produces polyester cloth in Surat, which the AP described as among the world’s largest hubs for synthetic fabrics. The factory floor is hot, humid, poorly ventilated and incredibly loud.
“I’m a poor person. I have come to Gujarat from Odisha, which is 2,000 kilometers away (1,242 miles), to work. We are poor people; we have to work to survive,” Pradhan told the AP.
Pradhan is among millions of workers in South Asia who endure these conditions alongside similarly harsh living quarters as climate-driven extreme heat worsens, the AP reported. The report, which included photographs by Ajit Solanki, documented Pradhan’s daily routine and the heat he faces on the factory floor.