For centuries Kolkata some 200 odd gold scavengers have made their living by collecting gold dust from the narrow lanes housing the small gold factories of the city. Named as Kadaiwallahs – men with large pans – being their daily work early as the goldsmiths sweep their shopfloors and the adjoining lanes to collect the dust comprising of tiniest of gold particles. They collect the dust in the large metal pans burn the impurities with acid and assemble the smallest of gold particle with help of mercury. The Kadaiwallahs have been doing this traditional and crude means of collecting gold since the 16th century during the Mughal Rule. But the ever increasing gold prices are becoming a hurdle in their profession.