High Tension Lines

Harsha Vadlamani Photojournalist, Documentary Photographer and Filmmaker in India

A villager at a coconut grove owned by his family, Talagana Puttuga, Sompeta.

Farmers leave for work in the morning, Akasha Lakkavaram, Vadditandra.

Ash from the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant’s 400MW captive thermal power plant flies into the neighbouring Appikonda village. The village is also the proposed site for a 1040 MW coal-fired power plant being promoted by the UK-based Hinduja group.

Appalareddy Pitta (23), a native of Pittavanipalem works as a welder in the middle-east. A week after he came home on a holiday, he developed sores and blisters all over his body, attributed to Arsenic poisoning.

Fishermen sort fresh catch at their hamlet in Meghavaram, Vadditandra. The best fish are kept aside for their own consumption and the rest are taken to the markets.

A villager shows roots picked from the Beela (wetland). The roots are a major source of iron and nutrition to the villagers.Golagondi, Sompeta.

Pelicans, Painted Storks and other migratory birds at Telineelapuram, a bird sanctuary about 2.5km from the plant site, Vadditandra. Though visited by 121 species of birds, it was mentioned as a minor breeding site for some birds in the Environment Assessment Report submitted by the promoters of the project for the purpose of permissions.

A worker harvests paddy crop at Korlam, Sompeta. The wetland is a major source of water for irrigation in the region; three lift irrigation schemes that draw water from the wetland irrigate 750 acres. This is in addition to the hundreds of acres that are dependent on water drawn directly through small channels and borewells.

A narrow water channel created after large tracts of land was reclaimed from the Kakarapalli swamp for the construction of the power plant at Vadditandra. The fishing community was severely affected after a chemical used to destroy the grass killed entire marine life in the swamp.

Lakshmi Jerolu with her three-year-old son at Akasalakkavaram, Vadditandra. Her husband, Nageswara Rao Jerolu (35), was killed in police firing during the protests on the 28th of February, 2011. She now cooks midday meals for children at a local school.

Migrant shepherds graze their sheep on the periphery of the swamp at Vadditandra.

Santosh Behara with the two fish that he had caught on a three hour hunt in the Bay of Bengal near Baruva, Sompeta. The fishermen community, already seriously affected by existing industries along the coast, has been quite vocal in the protests against the power projects.

Activists break fast on the 740th day of relay hunger strikes protesting the power project at Sompeta. The town receives a power cut for about three hours in the evening everyday.

Locals and activists clash with police at the public hearing for a proposed ferro alloys plant at Addaroad near Visakhapatnam. The agitations at Sompeta and Vadditandra have served to increas awareness levels among communities about potential health and environmental impact from industries, causing widespread public agitations against polluting industries.

High-tension power transmission lines built to carry power from the NTPC Simhadri power plant pass through agricultural fields near Parawada, Visakhapatnam.