Residents of three villages – Piyala, Kalipur and Waria – in Durgapur, West Bengal complain they are forced to eat and breathe black dust emanating from the nearby thermal power plant. The air, admits the pollution control board, is heavily polluted, and there are allegations of flyash being dumped in the local water bodies. A ground report.

पश्चिम बंगाल के दुर्गापुर में तीन गाँवों पियाला, कालीपुर और वारिया के ग्रामीणों की शिकायत है कि वो पास के थर्मल पावर प्लांट से निकलने वाली काली धूल में सांस लेने को मजबूर हैं। प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड का भी मानना है कि हवा बहुत प्रदूषित है, साथ ही यहां के जल निकायों में फ्लाईएश डालने का आरोप भी है। पढ़िए ग्राउंड रिपोर्ट।

As India gradually proceeds to switch to more sustainable energy alternatives, coal mine workers are at a high risk of losing their jobs in the process. A study aimed at assessing their employment preferences has revealed that agriculture is not the most sought after occupation amongst such workers. Details here.

A recent study undertaken in West Bengal by Climate Trends and IIT Delhi shows a higher prevalence of upper and lower respiratory illnesses and cardiovascular problems as a result of long and long and short term exposures to air pollutants. Women in the state's rural areas were more vulnerable to it.

West Bengal is India's top paddy growing state. Bardhaman region in the state, which is known as the rice bowl of Bengal, has received minus 47% deficient rainfall leading to a drastic reduction in paddy sowing. A Gaon Connection ground report as part of its Paddy Pain series.

In the Indo-Gangetic plains of Northern India, 510 million residents, nearly 40% of India’s population, are on track to lose 7.6 years of life expectancy on average, if current pollution levels persist, warns a new study. Since 2013, about 44% of the world’s increase in pollution has come from India.

A modest 10% reduction in energy consumption from wealthier urban households, which can be achieved from energy conservation and the adoption of efficient power sources, can reduce particulate pollution by 7.1 %, 8.4 %, and 6.2 % in Delhi, Coimbatore, and Rajkot respectively.

Durga Puja, Bengal's biggest annual event, is just a few days away but residents of 17 villages in Howrah district are in no mood to celebrate because damaged river embankments remain unrepaired due to 'freezing' of MGNREGA funds and there is the ever present threat of their homes being washed away by flood waters like it did last month.

Traditionally, small and marginal farmers in Bankura district, West Bengal, have cultivated paddy and earned meagre returns. But the introduction of watermelon cultivation in the past two years and the setting up of a farmer producer company have changed their fortunes.

From daily wage workers, local residents and commuters, the coal mandi in Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh is adversely affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Worst affected are the labourers at the market who are employed to load and unload the coal from the never ending trail of trucks. Tuberculosis cases are rampant. In its June 2022 report, the state pollution control board has recommended relocation of the mandi, but there is no deadline in sight. A ground report.