His fascination with industrial pollution took London-based Indian photographer Srinivas Kuruganti to Orissa's mineral-rich mining districts, where tribals watch as forests disappear, farmlands shrink and families fall like pins to health hazards

For Srinivas Kuruganti, creating a frame is more than translating colour and character to life and form. It's a storyboard established with communities faced with economic and social hardships -- whether it's the dusty recesses of Mumbai's ship-breaking yards or inside HIV/AIDS clinics in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Iron ore in Joda district in Keonjhar is piled high and waiting to be
transported to a processing plant. Large-scale iron producers such as
TISCO, Jindal and SAlL operate in Keonjhar district

A mine worker on his way home from work in Sukinda, a chromite
mining town

A tribal woman takes home wood she has foraged near the TISCO
mines in Keonjhar district

Steel plant in Sundergarh. The town of Sundergarh has huge deposits
of iron ore, bauxite and manganese. The air is thick with pollution from
the surrounding mines and processing plants

Alkaline waste produced when separating bauxite from the soil is dumped
into a pond. The Vedanta Refinery is situated at the base of the Niyamgiri
Hills in Lanjigarh. Several villages are 5 minutes away from what is known
as the red mud pond

The Vedanta Bauxite Processing Plant The waste left over from extracting
bauxite is pumped from the plant into a large enclosed pit. A lot of it seeps
through and contaminates the groundwater. Local communities also use this
waste to make bricks for new housing

Mine over matter
The photographs in Kuruganti's album dated 2003 and later, carry a pronounced environmental stamp. "For the last three years, I have been working on a series of photo essays on industrial pollution in Ankleshwar in Gujarat, and Patancheru in Andhra Pradesh. Before that I spent time in Dhanbad's coal-mining district," says the London-based photographer, who chose Orissa, the highest producer of chromite, bauxite and iron ore in India, as his laboratory.

"Orissa has cleared more forestland than any other Indian state. For years, large Indian companies and multinationals have set up mining operations here, resulting in widespread displacement of adivasis who constitute twenty five per cent of Orissa's population."

In fact, the government has adopted a fast track clearance system for projects investing over $6 million, he claims. In the process, farmlands and forests, crucial to the Adivasi survival, have been leased to mining companies for drilling.

The task of documenting was hardly a walk in the minefield. Kuruganti spent months poring over industry statistics. "I researched companies that work there including BHP Billiton, Tata, Vedanta and Jindal Steel, and went through government reports on Orissa's pollution levels."

Familiarising himself with work done by NGOs like Human Rights Watch, helped give him truer picture. The Centre for Science and Environment's title, Rich Lands Poor People was invaluable research material. Local activists like Mr Mohanty, who took him around and introduced him to community leaders helped him bond with miners across Sundergarh, Sukinda, Keonjhar and Lanjigarh.

"At first, the miners were obviously wary. They thought I was a mining company official on a visit to survey their land for future operations. But once they learnt of my intentions, they opened up and trusted me," recollects Kuruganti, who spent two one-week stints between in April 2009 and March 2010 for the ongoing project. He intends return in September this year.

"I remember how my car was stopped by officials of a mining company. My driver Prabha was questioned about taking an outsider to mines and villages. He took a huge risk by safeguarding me."
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Not without our forests
Most communities living along the mining belt have inhabited the area for generations. The surrounding forests provide them with wood for domestic chores. The forests are a haven for medicinal herbs; and this is crucial since they rarely have access to doctors or hospitals.

While walking in the Niyamgiri Hills, Kuruganti noticed how Kondh tribals would easily spot plants and explain their uses. The knowledge is passed down through generations. "Despite the hazardous effects of mining to their health and environment, the tribals live in the hope that conditions will improve. The forests and hills are their home. What they want is the right to protect their land."

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