audio, stills, text and or video: Go to http://www.zReportage.com to see more - All of India's uranium comes from a few miles around Jadugoda, a tribal district of East Singbhum, is the site of the oldest uranium mine in the country. Jadugoda is estimated to have more than a third of India's total mineral wealth. For years, the local population has suffered from the extensive environmental degradation caused by the mining operations, responsible for the high frequency of radiation related sicknesses and developmental disorders found in the area. Increases in miscarriages, impotency, infant mortality, Down's syndrome, skeletal deformities, thalassemia have been reported. With raw radioactive 'yellow-cake' production to increase and more than 100,000 tons of radio-active waste stored at Jadugoda the threat to the environment and the local tribal communities is set to continue.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Sept. 29, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - Villagers of the Ho tribe lament the death of a young one in a village.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Sept. 29, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - DASMATI KUNTI, of the Ho tribe, gives blessing to her two-year-old son, Babua, who died under unknown circumstances. She claims that Babua was as healthy as any other kid in his village. They live within 300 feet of the nuclear tailing structure.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Sept. 29, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - Two-year-old BABUA HO, who died a sudden death, is buried in the backyard of his house, with his hands put in a glass and a pot of brass according to tribal customs.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Sept. 28, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - More than a hundred thousand tons of nuclear waste stored in the tailing ponds is constantly producing large amount of toxic gases and nuclear radiation that contaminate the environment. The dumped nuclear waste remains radioactive and dangerous for millions of years.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Sept. 29, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - MANEESHA, who is three weeks old, was grossly underweight and weighed merely two pounds. Her mother, ARTI PATRA, gave birth to three kids before her, but none survived. The baby girl passed away two days after this photo was taken.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Sept. 30, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - BABLOO, 7, has been bed-ridden since birth. He suffers from Cerebral Palsy. His father, Bukan Singh Bangkira, works in UCIL as a uranium miner.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Oct. 1, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - Several cases of cancer and skin diseases have been reported from people living near the tailing ponds. PRAFULLA GOP lost his right leg to bone cancer. He considers himself fortunate to survive.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Oct. 1, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - Once a place of scenic beauty, dense forest, low mountains, small villages surrounded by hills and hardworking tribal people, Jadugoda is now a man-made hell.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Oct. 1, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - SANJAY GOP, 8, is mentally retarded and has weak limbs since birth. He attends the local school but is not allowed inside the premises without an attendant. His grandfather escorts him to the school and elsewhere.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Oct. 1, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - Every year countless number of children are being affected by the nuclear radiation.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Oct. 1, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - After a few decades of mining in the region, people living around the mines and the tailing ponds are finally falling prey to radiation. RAKESH GOP, 11, suffers from mental retardation and has weak limbs.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Oct. 1, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - An orphan from a young age, RAPDA SARDAR was like any other healthy man in his village. But at the age of 21, his limbs suddenly started becoming weak which gradually led to complete mental and physical retardation. After being abandoned by his relatives, he now lives in a shanty and is dependent on the villagers to feed him.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Oct. 3, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - Suffering from congenital deformity, MOHAN,19, has six toe fingers. His father, a miner in the uranium mines, died of lung cancer.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Oct. 3, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - A truck driver stands on top of a dumper carrying uranium to the UCIL mill. The uranium dumper drivers are hired by the contractors and do not get any training or proper safety equipment to handle such dangerous radioactive substance by the UCIL.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Oct. 3, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - The mill complex of The Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) at Jadugoda where the uranium is extracted from the ore.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Oct. 3, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - Every year countless children are being affected by nuclear radiation. DHANRAM GOPE, 13, is mentally weak and has congenital deformity since birth.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Oct. 3, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - The tailing pipes carrying the nuclear waste pass through roads used by locals.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Oct. 4, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - LAXMI DAS has lost eight children within a week of their births. Her ninth child, Gudia, survived but succumbed to cerebral palsy. Gudia passed away recently.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
Oct. 4, 2012 - Jadugoda, Jharkhand, India - Young girls sit over the tailing pipe, which carries nuclear waste to the tailing pond.
© Chinky Shukla/zReportage/ZUMAPRESS.com
