The source of the marble used to build the Taj Mahal is now the source of a controversy over worker safety. India's marble mining industry produces 260,000 metric tons of the material each year, but kills an average of three workers and injures 30 more each month. While mine owners claim that safety laws are strictly enforced and closely followed, representatives of miners' unions and mine-safety organizations say that such laws are flouted with impunity as owners force desperately poor employees to risk life and limb on a daily basis.
See "Elegant Indian marble puts heavy price on miners", Nita Bhalla, International Herald Tribune, May 28, 2007