Indian Divers Bet Health To Find "Curcumvent Prices" In Rivers

JAKARTA - Part-time traditional divers in India are not worried about diving in rivers with polluted water to get hidden "treasure".

Fajar just came when Ramu Gupta was holding a blue bag on his shoulder and headed for the Yamuna River in the Indian capital for luck.

Ramu (67) is one of hundreds of gotakhhors, or divers, who go into the river hunting for coins, knick-knacks, used bottles, as well as shards of metal and wood that can be sold in the fast-growing New Delhi used goods market.

"I made about 5,000 Indian rupees (Rp 947,279) in a month from this," Gupta said.

Gupta spends his days cleaning toilets near the hut where he lives. He saves extra income for his two grandchildren, hoping to share them among them as they grow up.

Hindus regard the river as a holy place and pilgrims throw offerings including coins, coconuts and flowers into the water for the "River Council" that supports life by providing water for drinking and irrigation.

They consider the Yamuna River, which originates in the Himalayan, as one of India's most sacred rivers, cremating people who die at its edge and throwing their most valuable property, including jewelry, into the water with the ashes of their loved ones.

Gupta and his fellow divers swam under polluted water, often risking their health in search of wealth.

He was in the river in the morning and evening, seven days a week, and went to work as usual during the day, a routine that had been going on for 35 years.

Another diver, Arvind Kumar (29) has been working full time in the river for nearly 12 years.

"There is no fixed income from this kind of work," said Kumar, who earns an average of 600 Indian rupees per day, below the government's daily minimum wage of 710 Indian rupees for unskilled workers.

Most divers collect coins, bottles and plastics.

Every now and then they may find some gold coins. More rarely, gold rings and necklaces.

Sometimes, they also find bodies, and then the police may call them to help evacuate them. If they see people swept away by the current, they may try to save them.

This makes the divers "more happy than the people saved," Gupta said.

As a devout Hindu, Gupta said she was not afraid of the river because she was protected by Rani's "Main", Dewi Ibu in Hinduism.

"So why are you afraid?" he asked.

"If he wants, I'll die, if he wants me alive, he'll kill me," he said.