History & Background
Sitting directly on the Bangladesh-India border beneath the Khasi and Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya, Jaflong has for generations been a center of stone collection, where local Khasi and Bengali laborers, including many women, gather smooth river stones washed down from the Indian hills for use in construction — a labor-intensive trade that remains central to the local economy. The area is also home to Khasi indigenous punji (village) communities who cultivate betel leaf orchards on the surrounding slopes, and the Dawki-adjacent Piyain River is known for its unusually clear, greenish water.