Lathao Brick Industry

Our business, Lathao Brick Industry, is located in P.O. Lathao within the Lohit district. It’s a nice enough area but the work we do is quite rugged. We’ve been here for a while, making bricks for the local community. The soil in Lohit is good for this kind of work. We spend our mornings digging and mixing. Then the molds get filled. It takes a lot of people to keep things moving. We aren't a big corporate company, just a local outfit. Most of us grew up around here. The kiln stays lit for days at a time. You can see the smoke rising over the trees. It’s a steady rhythm of work. We don't have many fancy tools, just the basics. The bricks are stacked high once they come out of the fire. People from the nearby villages come to us when they are starting a new project. We don't have a big office, just a small shed where we keep the records. It gets very hot near the kilns, so we take breaks in the shade when we can. Working at P.O. Lathao means being part of the landscape. We just try to keep up with the demand. It’s a lot of repetitive movement, stacking and unstacking. That’s the life here. We just keep the fire going and the bricks coming out. The river isn't too far away, and sometimes we get a bit of a breeze which helps with the heat. In the winter, the morning fog is so thick you can't see the gate. We have to wait for it to clear.