UNCERTAIN TIMES: For the 1,000-odd migrant labourers the end of the salt pans will spell joblessness. The government, however, says that there is little salt being produced.

The salt commissioner's office in Bombay estimates that less than 50,000 tonnes of salt is produced every year....

Environmentalists say that the salt pans are destructive enough, but building houses on them will add to the ecological pressure as more construction means more reclamation, more garbage and more toxics.