Leela Ram father of 5 (3 daughters & 2 sons) owns 2.5 acre of farmland in Rak village, close to the NTPC ash pond. Since NTPC started in SIPAT, farmers are suffering. Every harvesting season, their harvest is getting smaller and smaller. Due to fly ash, vegetable plants are not flowering well and it is affecting the production. Furthermore in the summer months everything in his village is covered with fly ash. Unfortunately residents are not aware of the health hazards of SO2 & NO2 emission from the TPP. Their only concern is what is visible in summer months, which is fly ash and it is poisoning the 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.

Sipat, Bilaspur District, Chhattisgarh, India, 2017.