SYNOPSIS

In India’s resource-rich Meghalaya State, demand for coal is transforming the environment and the people who depend on it. Coal mine owners are prospering from booming production, but few laws regulate the dangerous and polluting practice known as “rat-hole” mining. Until now.

A new government tribunal recently banned all coal mining in the region, effectively shutting down the economy. Mine owners and workers staged protests, while people living downstream are struggling to cope with dead rivers that once provided their livelihoods, food, and drinking water. Nepalese migrants who crossed the border to work in the mines are stuck in the middle.

Broken Landscape examines the lives of those on the front lines of India’s water-energy choke point.

DOWNSTREAM DEATH

“We don’t know the reason for the death of fish in downstream villages,” said Hamberton Nongtdu, a mine owner. “Is it the coal water? It could be that their own people have done something to poison the fish.”

Kip Amtra, who has lived in downstream Kharkhana Village his whole life, scoffed at the suggestion.

Speaking to those whose lives are affected most by coal mining exposted deep divides.

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CHOKE POINT: INDIA

The conflicting demand for water, food, and energy is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century. “Global Choke Point,” a collaboration between Circle of Blue and the Wilson Center, explores the peril and promise of this nexus with frontline reporting, data, and policy expertise.

In four reporting trips to India since 2012, Circle of Blue and the Wilson Center have documented a cycle of risk involving water, energy, and food that is harming India’s environment, slowing its economy, and impeding its development.

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A NATIONAL PIVOT POINT

The stakes in Meghalaya’s contest between industry, the federal government, and local communities are tremendously significant for all of India.

Evidence of rising activity in coal mining and trucking was plainly apparent during a visit this fall, writes Keith Schneider. He asked two cement plant executives if they were having trouble securing fuel. ‘‘Not a problem,’’ one grinned.

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Broken Landscape is the recipient of a 2015 Silver Telly Award for outstanding film/video. With nearly 12,000 entries from all 50 states and numerous countries, this is truly an honor.

The Telly Awards were founded in 1978 and honor excellence in local, regional, cable, and non-broadcast video and TV. Read more about the Telly Awards here.