See how unprecedented mining in the forests of Odisha has violated a raft of laws and regulations, severely despoiled the complex eco-system, and resulted in windfall profits for miners at the cost of the public exchequer. [Photo Thread] 1/n

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North Odisha’s rich deciduous forests and mountain ranges hold 1/3 of India’s haematite iron ore reserves. Here, a mining company constructs a road through the forests around the mining town of Bonai. Mining is done in over 45,000 hectares (ha) of which 34,000 is forested area

This makes it the site of the state’s largest corruption scam. Truck traffic ferrying iron ore dominates the area’s roads. They only halt on Sundays, after villagers agitated for this weekly break so that they could use the roads to attend church and visit markets. 3/n

Trucks jam the road leading up to the mines in the Kurmitar mountain range. The Supreme Court-appointed Justice MB Shah Commission estimated that at current rates of extraction, quality iron ore reserves in this region could run out in 35 years—the government rejected the claim

The Shah Commission’s report was tabled in Parliament on February 10, 2014. Over the past decade, fuelled by a commodity boom led by exports to China, mining increased manifold. These images show the contrast between the mined landscape, and areas that are yet to be mined. 5/n