Residents of Kaudiya Village, Sipat in Chhattisgarh

In summer months, Kaudiya village is covered with fly ash and it is polluting the water and land and villagers have breathing illnesses and skin infections.
Parasuram Sahoo and villagers feel cheated by NTPC; they lost their farmlands to NTPC, they receive minimum compensation for their farmland and the promise that one family member would get work at the NTPC is not fulfilled. ‘Fly-ash’ refers to fine particles of ash sent up by the burning of solid fuel-like coal. Typically, this is the residue of ash generated by thermal power companies. Due to its toxic nature, the government has mandated that fly-ash must be dumped in ash ponds, which are specially made on vacant lands. However, this mandate is not strictly observed and casual dumping has resulted in the poisoning of air, water and land in areas close to the power plants. This has also had a negative impact on the health of people living in those areas. Illnesses like heart disease, lung cancer, both chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma are increasing.

Kaudiya village, SIPAT, Bilaspur district, Chhattisgarh, India, 2017.