Dust, despair and broken promises Premium

Sarojamma makes fritters in a village near a thermal power station, facing pollution and neglect for over a decade.

The hot oil begins to sizzle as Sarojamma, 42, a daily wage earner, lights her stove in the courtyard of her hut to make bajjis (fritters) for her two children aged 12 and 14. She squints, checking the frying pan for any specks of ash, and deftly flicks one away with her finger.

Sarojamma lives in Pynampuram, a predominantly tribal habitation located close to the Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Station, established by Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation Ltd with an initial capacity of 800 MW in March 2014, in Nelaturu village of A.P.’s Sri Potti Sriramulu (SPSR) Nellore district.

The village has a population of nearly 2,500.

The second 800-MW unit was added in February 2016 and the third 800-MW unit in October 2022.

Smoke constantly billows from the thermal plant’s cooling tower, spreading thin flakes of soot and ash over the nearby villages. Students at the nearby Anganwadi school have their lunch on the verandah outside, exposing their food to fly ash. Locals throng roadside eateries notwithstanding concerns over health risks.

While the soot and ash give sleepless nights to residents of this belt, villages south and southeast of Nelaturu in Muthukuru mandal face the hazard of fine particulate matter from iron ore and coal dumped at Krishnapatnam, India’s second-largest private port.

“We have been facing this problem of pollution for nearly 10 years and have represented to the district collector several times, but to no avail,” says B. Kanakaiah, sarpanch of Nelaturu panchayat.