With the pallu of her saree covering her head, Shakuntala Shende made her way from the village health centre to her house in a narrow lane in Nagpur district’s Khairi village, a visit she makes several times in a year. She has patches on her hands that have turned black and itch painfully. The treatment she gets at the health centre provides temporary relief, but then the patches return.
Shende’s village is one of many in the district affected by coal ash pollution from two thermal power plants (TPPs). The ash has polluted the region’s air, the river water and groundwater, according to government documents and an independent study. The government-owned company,
