India: Illegal Asphalt Plant’s Pollution Causes Cancer in Villagers · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Video Volunteers’ India Unheard project exposes the problems faced by a community in Rajasthan where the pollution caused by several illegal asphalt factories is causing breathing problems in 10% of the population as well as affecting the crop production.
Sunita Kasera, who lives in a neighboring community, documents the residents’ complaints against the pollution caused by these factories which have caused many of them to fall sick from cancer or respiratory diseases. Those sick need money for medication but at the same time their farms, also affected by the pollution, are yielding less produce. Meanwhile, the factory owners state that the residents benefit from the employment and wages and no complaints have reached them.
From the video‘s description:
The very air of the village of Asthal in Karuali district, Rajasthan has turned against the inhabitants. Crops wither before harvest and the trees have stopped to bear fruits. One in ten villagers suffers from cancer or falls victim to a serious strain of tuberculosis. All fingers are pointing at the 5 asphalt factories that have been churning out toxic fumes and black dust almost every single day for the last ten years.
Community efforts are being undertaken to prove the illegality of these factories and move them away from the village.