Sashank Pathak owns a photocopy shop in one of the busiest markets of Ranchi, Jharkhand’s capital city. His small-scale business needs regular power to run his machines. But since the onset of the heatwave in the region, erratic power supply has been troubling him and many other traders in his area. Tired of the power […]
Those living in mining areas have been seeking assistance for basic amenities for decades. May 09, 2021 · 01:30 pm A road in Talcher region in Odisha adjacent to a railway siding where coal-laden trucks are loaded into trains. | Pramit Karmakar via Mongabay India
During the latest budget Session of Odisha’s Legislative Assembly, the Odisha government’s Cabinet in March approved several proposals but the one that raised eyebrows was to use the District Mineral Foundation funds, meant for the mining-affected community in the Sundergarh district, for construction of an international stadium in Rourkela town.
The proposed international stadium has been envisioned to host the Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023. This misuse of the funds is not a one-off incident, but there have been many similar trends over the years. In 2017, in the Jharsuguda district, the district administration sanctioned works related to the power supply to the Jharsuguda airport with a
A damaged house at the Podampetta village in Odisha. | Pramit Karmakar
Podampetta is a coastal village in the Ganjam district of Odisha. A few years ago, it had several households which were primarily involved in the fishing trade. Now it has only five households. The rest of the village has been resettled by the state government to a new area called New Podampetta, around 300 metres away from the village on the eastern coast of India.
The resettlement of the entire village was triggered by the massive coastal erosion the village witnessed in the last few years. The village lies along the Bay of Bengal, now at a distance of only 50 metres from the sea. Several houses there have been damaged by natural disasters and are now lying in dilapidated conditions.