As coal mining began in Thar, so did the pollution of its underground water sources. Water pumped out from the mines is deposited in reservoirs near villages, this water taken out from deep beneath the desert, from layers of coal is often toxic and high in salinity.

Now locals fear, it has polluted the fresh water sources as well and made the water in their underground wells unfit for drinking. In this podcast we speak to locals from Thar who want to preserve a scarce resource in the great desert.