Dear Reader,

Amid claims and counterclaims over the authenticity of Bihar’s voters list, now under revision by the Election Commission of India (ECI) ahead of the October–November polls in the state, an investigation by The Reporters’ Collective has revealed significant and startling irregularities.

In the Valmikinagar assembly constituency’s draft electoral roll in Bihar, the credentials of over 1,000 voters were strikingly similar to voters from Uttar Pradesh—identical names, ages, and relatives’ details in both databases. Thousands more appear with minor spelling or age variations, yet all possess two Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers—an explicit violation of the law.

The investigation, conducted with data analysts, challenges the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) claim that its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) aimed to purge illegal or migrated voters. Whether these entries belong to individuals illegally registered twice or are fictitious identities remains unclear without on-ground verification, which the ECI says is underway. Despite written queries, the ECI offered no substantive response, though its PRO noted—correctly—that the claims-and-objections window for the draft roll remains open.

Fatal fires and explosions in chemical factories are an unfortunate feature of India's industrial landscape. A particularly tragic explosion at the Sigachi chemical plant near Hyderabad in Telangana in June reduced a three-storey building to rubble, threw glass shrapnel up to two kilometres away, and took the lives of 53 workers, who were charred beyond recognition. Subsequent investigation revealed that the factory neglected critical safety guidelines, with the government turning a blind eye.

This pattern of laxity in workers’ safety is, unfortunately, a familiar story in India. Critical safety clearances are routinely overlooked by the state and, in turn, ignored by the industryies. Only 38% of pharmaceutical manufacturers publish safety reports, even as a significant number are suspected to be operating without environmental clearances or clear safety procedures. Moreover, The Migration Story finds another troubling aspect to these oversights—that violations are particularly flagrant in those units where the migrants constitute the preponderant number in the labour force. With no clout, political or social, they are largely unseen and unheard when it comes to labour safety.

The perennial dilemma of what to do with urban waste has visited Chandbadli village in Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh, which neighbours the town of Kurawar. The district administration has unilaterally declared a section of the catchment area of a pond in the village as a landfill site to dispose of Kurawar's garbage—allegedly without the consent of the gram panchayat. Ground Report travels to Chandbadli to talk to the residents who fear the marring of their pristine surroundings and its impact on the local environment, especially on their source of drinking water.

As cited earlier, as Bihar approaches its legislative assembly elections, weary citizens who have long endured the state’s apathy toward their persistent problems are beginning to speak out. Many are warning that, if their grievances are not addressed, they will—much against their instincts—boycott the polls rather than exercise a franchise they increasingly view as a hollow ritual yielding little response from those in power.

One such example of public ire comes from Dhobidanga village in Kishanganj district’s Pothiya block. मैं मीडिया reports that for the past thirty years, severe flooding and erosion by the Donk River, a tributary of the Mahananda, have reduced the village to half its original size. Residents have been forced to relocate from the western bank to the eastern, with hundreds of families losing their land and hearth. Of particular concern is the road, which once served as an embankment on the western side; which has begun to give way, threatening to maroon the village entirely. Despite numerous pleas and petitions to the government over three decades, these cries for help have fallen on deaf ears.

For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.

Warmly,

Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF