As coal mining began in Thar, so did the pollution of its underground water sources. Water pumped out from the mines is deposited in reservoirs near villages, this water taken out from deep beneath the desert, from layers of coal is often toxic and high in salinity.

Now locals fear, it has polluted the fresh water sources as well and made the water in their underground wells unfit for drinking. In this podcast we speak to locals from Thar who want to preserve a scarce resource in the great desert.

In this podcast we look at possible solutions.

Kacheri (EP-01) : Coal mining brings a water crisis to the Thar desert

Rain has always been a symbol of life in the arid land of Tharparkar but thunder and lightning accompanying it have become a source of permanent fear among its residents now. In recent years, lightning strikes have taken dozens of lives besides destroying crops and killing animals at a large scale.

In this episode of our podcast, Earthwise reports how local residents link these lightning strikes with coal development.

Kacheri (EP-02): Deadly lightning strikes have risen in tandem with coal development in Tharparkar

For generations, the inhabitants of Thar have lived in harmony with nature — spending their lives in chaunras or rooms made of mud, straw, and wood. That harmony, however, is being seriously  undermined by coal development now. 

In this episode of our podcast, we record the fears, frustrations and anger of the residents of Thario Halepoto, a village overshadowed  by Pakistan’s larger coal mine located in Tharparkar district, over their impending displacement from their traditional abodes.

Kacheri (EP-03): Where there is coal, there is also the fear of displacement

Tharis are a resilient people. They have survived a harsh weather and a hard terrain for centuries. With the advent of coal development around their villages, however, they are facing a new menace: ever-rising health hazards. 

This episode of Kacheri documents how women, children and older people in village after village are suffering from respiratory and skin diseases they never knew before. Cancer cases are also being reported from many villages even though local people were unfamiliar with it until recently. This, they allege, is happening to them because coal has contaminated their water and poisoned their air.

Kacheri (EP-04): Coal creates a burden of disease that no one is talking about

People of Thar revere their home soil as Mother Earth that generates and nourishes life in all its forms. In at least one local village, Khario Ghulam Shah, this deep-rooted reverence is facing a serious test. The villagers here complain that huge slices of mud slide down to their farms, backyards and livestock pens every monsoon from the high walls that buttress a nearby coal mine. They allege that these walls have been built in such a way that they block rainwater from seeping back into the mine and instead force it flow to the village in torrents carrying huge amounts of mud along with them.
 
This episode of Kacheri reveals how helpless the villagers feel while facing this destructive force of their otherwise beloved soil.

Kacheri (EP-05): A disaster happens every time it rains over the coal mine

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