00:02Even at the health centre, thick dust covers every surface.
00:06In eastern India's mining towns, there's no escaping the coal dust.
00:13We have difficulty breathing. There's dust everywhere.
00:17We get dust in our noses, mouths, everywhere.
00:23When there's a storm, it spreads everywhere, on clothes and utensils inside the house.
00:28When we put them in water, the water turns black.
00:33Most of the coal mines are state-run, as are the power plants that they feed.
00:40Bokaro's still city has lots of plants, and the smoke causes health issues for many.
00:46So local women are taking on the system that has failed to protect the people.
00:57Bokaro district is dominated by thermal power, coal plants and heavy industry.
01:07Over the years, people here have learned to live with the pollution,
01:11because many depend on coal for work and fuel, despite its harmful effects.
01:19But local women like Deepmala Devi are no longer willing to accept these harmful effects.
01:25They now use sensor boxes to measure what they're being exposed to each day.
01:32Look how much dust has settled on the stairs here at the health centre.
01:36We have to keep sweeping it up all day.
01:42Deepmala Devi lives in Jarandi, a mining village in the East Bokaro coal fields.
01:48Coal trucks pass through here all the time.
01:51The roads are black and the air thick with pollution.
01:56Residents like M.D. Akram say years of breathing in coal dust have taken a serious toll on their health.
02:05We're all on medication and have to pay for it ourselves.
02:09Like M.D. Akram, many families here live with chronic health problems
02:14and spend a large share of what they earn on medication.
02:19Access to health care is also limited in many of these mining communities.
02:25At the local health centre, Dr. Sunita Mahato regularly sees patients with illnesses linked to pollution.
02:33This is one of India's largest coal mining regions.
02:37The latest figures show the state of Jharkhand's annual coal production exceeds 200 million metric tonnes.
02:44That's roughly a fifth of India's total output.
02:48It's a very dusty area.
02:50Coughs and other dust-related problems are very common.
02:54These issues make up most of the patients I see.
02:57It's because of the collieries.
02:59Patients with respiratory issues are the most common, like asthma, COPD, etc.
03:05We also get cases of tuberculosis.
03:10Children are exposed to coal dust from a very young age.
03:14Where families live in extreme poverty, children even help collect leftover coal from the mining areas to sell and buy
03:22food.
03:23The impact can be very serious.
03:27Children's eyesight is affected and they have breathing problems.
03:31The kids also have difficulty remembering what they've been taught.
03:35They forget immediately.
03:41Air pollution causes more than 2 million deaths in India every year.
03:46In Jharkhand's coal districts of Danbad and Bokaro, where levels are especially high,
03:51Deepmala Devi and other local women are part of an air quality monitoring project.
03:56They call themselves Pariavran Sakis, friends of the environment.
04:04When I came to Turangdi after getting married, everyone depended on coal for a living.
04:10They also cooked with stoves powered by wood or coal.
04:14I saw the women having coughing fits while cooking.
04:17When they spat, their saliva contained black dust.
04:20Whenever they get a cough, it takes them a long time to recover.
04:24Deepmala is one of 10 women who were trained by a local community organization to monitor air pollution in their
04:31villages.
04:32They use devices to monitor harmful particles in the air that are small enough to enter the lungs and bloodstream.
04:41The fine particulate matter of less than 2.5 micrometers comes from burning coal and vehicle exhaust,
04:48while the larger PM10 is from coal and road dust.
04:53We were taught about PM10 and PM2.5.
04:57When we took readings in different areas, we realized how polluted the air is here.
05:05Women are exposed to very poor air quality while cooking inside the house.
05:10And outside, the conditions are just as bad.
05:14So they face pollution both at home and outside, which impacts their health.
05:23Coal mines in India are obliged to monitor air quality in the area around their operations,
05:30including within a three kilometer radius of where people live.
05:33But Central Coalfield Limited, the government-owned company here, failed to do that.
05:39And the authorities didn't enforce it either.
05:43The first people to actually collect pollution data were these Pariavran Sakhis.
05:48They monitored the air at schools, marketplaces and hospitals,
05:52where they found extremely high levels of pollution.
05:59At the mine, the air quality index went up to 300 to 400.
06:04Sometimes at night, it would reach 500 to 600.
06:07The monitor turned red and started bleeping because of the extreme pollution.
06:12But when they first started, many were suspicious, even other villagers.
06:18When we went out with the monitor, people would ask what we were doing.
06:21They thought we were mad taking a box to the mine.
06:25They recorded air quality at 69 locations, identifying 26 pollution hotspots.
06:32With that data, they now had evidence and a way to put pressure on the coal company and authorities.
06:38In the nearby town of Kapania, another Pariavran Sakhis, Jyoti Kumari,
06:44says that now people understand how harmful the air around them is.
06:49We live in a mining area.
06:55We always knew the air here was polluted, but we didn't understand how dangerous that is.
07:02So when we started this as Pariavran Sakhis,
07:05we realized how these fine particles enter our bodies.
07:10And they can be life-threatening for all of us.
07:13We also knew how many people to my body are.
07:14We are the only place of Kapaniavran Sakhis.
07:15We tell you how many people to live here are.
07:16We do not have to live in lieu of the near future of the entire town of Kapaniavran Sakhis.
07:18We are the only place in a hotel.
07:19We have to live in lieu of the near future of Kapaniavran Sakhis.
07:21You
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