Long before the rest of Dubi village wakes up, Moyna Baidya and her husband, Adhir Bairagi, are already at work.
They begin by feeding sawdust into a 40-square-foot furnace, checking the large iron pans and preparing for a process that has barely changed in more than five decades. By sunrise, they are already hours into a shift that will keep them beside the fire until well past noon.
Working with four furnaces in two batches, the couple can produce up to 30 maunds, about 1.2 tonnes, salt each day from discarded industrial brine that was once treated as waste.
Image
Drained salt is being moved for packaging. Photo: Habibur Rahman
Known locally as jwalano lobon (fired salt), the craft has supported hundreds of families in Bhandaria union of Pirojpur's Nesarabad upazila for more than 50 years. Today, however, the traditional industry is on the verge of disappearing.
Its origins trace back to one of Bangladesh's darkest chapters.
Image
A salt factory in Nesarabad. Photo: Habibur Rahman
Elderly residents of Dubi village say the trade began during the 1974 famine, when soaring salt prices pushed the staple beyond the reach of many families.
According to locals, a villager named Abu Bakkar Siddiki came up with an alternative. He began collecting leftover brine from commercial salt factories, where it had been drained into holding pits and discarded as waste. By boiling the brine, he was able to produce edible salt.
Others soon followed.
The leftover brine is being heated over a furnace. Photo: Habibur Rahman
What started as a survival strategy gradually grew into a small industry that eventually created jobs for thousands of people across more than 100 surrounding villages. Raw brine was transported from factories in Jhalakathi, Khulna and Chattogram.
The work remains physically demanding. "We have to stay beside the furnace for six straight hours," Adhir said.
As the brine boils, foam containing impurities rises to the surface and must be skimmed off continuously while the liquid is stirred until white salt crystals begin to form.
"No chemicals are added during the process," he said.
Image
A worker tends the salt-making process at a factory. Photo: Habibur Rahman
The finished salt is drained in bamboo baskets, stored in wooden boxes and mixed with iodine only at the final stage before being packaged.
Workers are paid based on production, earning Tk 60 for every maund of salt they produce. However, Tk 13 to Tk 14 per maund is deducted to cover production costs.
Image
Salt is being drained to remove excess moisture. Photo: Habibur Rahman
For Moyna, the workday does not end at the factory.
"After spending long hours here, she still has to return home and take care of all the household chores," Adhir said.
Between factory work and household responsibilities, Moyna says she rarely gets more than four hours of sleep a night.
Another husband-and-wife team, Mohammad Emdadul and Salma, say making a living from the trade is becoming increasingly difficult.
The leftover brine that factories once supplied free of charge now has to be purchased. Sawdust has become far more expensive because of growing demand from poultry farms. Labour costs have also increased, but salt prices have failed to keep pace, Emdadul said.
The decline of the industry has been steep.
Image
An abandoned salt factory in Dubi village, Bhandaria Union, Nesarabad upazila of Pirojpur. Photo: Habibur Rahman
Local resident Atikur Rahman said Dubi village once had 22 salt factories. Today, only two remain.
"If these factories shut down, this tradition will disappear," he said.
Factory owner Selim Majhi believes government support could help revive the industry and create employment once again.
Most of the salt produced in Dubi is sold outside Nesarabad, particularly in Madaripur and the Gournadi and Agailjhara upazilas of Barishal.
Drained salt is being transferred for packaging. Photo: Habibur Rahman
Although primarily used for cooking, grocery shop owner Mostafizur Rahman Milon said many buyers also purchase it as a mineral supplement for cattle.
Dr Suranjit Kumar Saha, a medicine specialist at Pirojpur Sadar Hospital, said the salt is safe for consumption provided impurity levels remain within approved limits, the correct amount of iodine is added and quality testing is carried out regularly.
One of Dubi's two remaining factories is certified by the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI). Md Yasir Arafat, a field officer at BSTI's Barishal Divisional Office, said the factory's salt undergoes regular testing.
For workers like Moyna and Adhir, and Emdadul and Salma, the future is uncertain.
If the last two factories close, they will have to find other work.
And with them may disappear a tradition born out of Bangladesh's 1974 famine—one that transformed discarded industrial brine into edible salt and sustained generations of families for more than half a century.
