Local communities in Tharparkar came together to protest the "poisonous" activities in the region associated with the Thar coal extraction project.
In a protest organised under the name of Jeewanr Saanjh Rajounri, Tharparkar's local communities demanded that the government halt and minimise the environmental and economic devastation wrought on local ecosystems by coal mining activities and coal-based power generation.
The people demanded that coal companies and the government rectify the destruction of their underground aquifers and the environment in Tharparkar. They stressed that the coal companies and the government must evaluate the environmental, economic, and health-related losses suffered by local communities due to poisoned waters from coal plants and coal mining and strengthen renewable energy projects.
The local communities also formed a symbolic life chain around the proposed site for the wastewater disposal plant in the Goranro village.
They said that indigenous human communities, animals, birds, and trees affected by the poisonous wastewater of coal plants were also part of this life chain.
Environmental and human rights activists, journalists, artists, poets, and writers participated in the life chain to express solidarity with communities violated by coal mining projects.
The residents demanded clean drinking water and that the government safeguard the land rights of the Thari people, especially the Gaucher (grazing) land.
They said that dams of poisonous water containing effluents from coal mines and power plants should be shifted away from human settlements, while concrete dams lined with concrete (to prevent leeching) should be built for the purpose as per international best practices.
The government and communities emphasised that they must take necessary legal and policy measures to protect Tharparkar's environment from coal-led devastation.