Subharjit Sen 2020 Commended
The hills of Jadugoda have been mined for uranium for five decades – creating half a century of a toxic legacy in the surrounding villages. © Subharjit Sen
Mini a 9 year old girl walking through the grave of her ancestors. She lives near tailing ponds and her Uncle and cousin brother are died a few years ago due to liver disease. © Subharjit Sen
Anamika Oraom (15) is leaving at a village named Dungridi, just 1 km away from Narwa Pahar Uranium Mine with her mother Nagi Oroam (45). Anamika is suffering from a malignant tumor on her face since birth. When she was 5 years old, doctors say it must be operated on, but her family cannot afford the surgery. Her mother is also suffering from various tumors on her body. Jadugoda, India. © Subharjit Sen
This tailing pond contains radioactive waste from the uranium processing plant. It passes by a hamlet near the Turamdih uranium mine. © Subharjit Sen
Children are playing, just in front of a uranium mine at Jadugoda village. People live barely 500 meters away. In a 1998 report, the environment committee of the Bihar Legislative Assembly had stated that no village should be within five kilometers of the mines and tailing ponds. © Subharjit Sen
Open cast uranium mine at Turamdih village near Jadugoda milling factory. © Subharjit Sen
Conflagration is the main way to destroy the forest in mining regions. Villagers are hugely losing their land, houses and facing health crisis for this. © Subharjit Sen
Renowned indigenous poet, singer and activist Durga Prasad Murmu practicing a musical instrument at his house. He is 55 now. The whole life he is battling with his deformed legs. From last 18 years he is running a school for educating the tribal peoples. He says “Our battle is not only against the radiation it is also against the illiteracy, if we had basic education and knowledge it could have never happen with us”. © Subharjit Sen
Rakesh with his beloved pets, he didn’t walk ever after since birth. Most of the children are staying their home alone throughout the day, because parents are working on paddy fields or nearby mines. © Subharjit Sen
Paltu Ram Sardar with his beloved pets, he didn’t walk ever after since birth. Now Piu (parrot) is the only companion of him throughout the day at Bango Village near Jaduguda uranium mines. © Subharjit Sen
In a village named Bhatin just 2 km away from Narwa Uranium mine, Mithun Patra a 15 year old suffering from cerebral palsy due to the heavy radiation. Jadugoda, India. © Subharjit Sen
Renowned indigenous poet, singer and activist Durga Prasad Murmu at way back to his house from school. From Last 18 years he is running a school for educating the tribal peoples. He says “Our battle is not only against the radiation it is also against the illiteracy, if we had basic education and knowledge it could have never happen with us”. © Subharjit Sen
Death Valley
Before being turned into a Uranium mining zone in 1965, Jadugoda, in Jharkhand State, was a lush green forested area inhabited by tribes. In its lust for resources to generate Nuclear energy and weapons, the Indian Government sacrificed both the forest and its inhabitants. The displaced people shifted into the periphery of a 160 km uranium mine, and remained very much within a dangerous radiation zone. From then on, the rates of miscarriages, cancer, tuberculosis, and many forms of genetic disorders among these people went on increasing to a hopeless rate. For water, these people used to depend on the Subarnarekha River – the mine’s toxic waste not only contaminated this river but it also ruined its aqua life. My work narrates how these people have been displaced and devastated by the Indian Government’s hunt for radioactive ores. This is a story to point out how power centers can operate with minimum concern for nature and for those who live in nature.
About the Photographer
Subhrajit Sen (b.1993) is a Kolkata based documentary photographer and graphic designer. His work predominantly concentrates on the socio-political issues that are jeopardizing livelihood whilst being ignored by mainstream media. After completing graduation, he enrolled at Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Kolkata, and ‘Counter Foto – a center for visual arts’, Dhaka in 2016 to learn documentary photography. With an urge to thwart the inevitable effects of Uranium Mining, he started his photography career through a project named ‘Death Valley’. It has been awarded Social Documentary Photography Grant 2018 by ‘Sri Aurobindo Center for Arts and Communications & Murthy Nayak Foundation’, New Delhi, and secured second-place on Documentary Photography Award by ‘International Academic Forum’, Japan in 2018.