Five journalists who extensively covered the problems afflicting rural India and environmental issues over the past year were honoured at the The Statesman Awards on Sunday night.

Smita Nair, a reporter with The Indian Express, won the Cushrow Irani Prize for Environmental Reporting 2018, while Karthikeyan Hemalatha of the Firstpost won the first prize, Ankita Anand of Eclectic North East won the second prize in The Statesman Rural Reporting awards. Lucknow-based online and print journalist Puja Awasthi and Radheshyam Jadhav of The Times of India jointly got the third prize for rural reporting.

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Smita Nair was awarded for her extensive coverage in Goa where the coal import has covered the state with soot and coal dust leaving citizens gasping for breath.

Talking on her coverage of the issue, she pointed out: “We started the coverage of the issue in 2017. It so happened that one day there was a public hearing being staged in Goa wherein the citizens gave out detailed accounts of how they are falling vulnerable to incurable respiratory diseases due to the huge amount coal being imported by big companies flouting environmental norms. The doctors agreed that it was due to the coal but refused to say this in writing. The coal imports also threatened fragile forests, paddy fields, streams, rivers, two sanctuaries and an entire hill.”

Ms Nair explained: “The impacts of coal transportation from Mormugao port to industries in North Karnataka were such that it inflicted deep wounds on the ecological heart of the state. We decided to follow the trucks, vessels and trains all the way to Karnataka tracking the routes and note how it was impacting the environment en route. First one month went in collecting all the data where I received aid from RTI activists and the Goans.”

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Accompanied by my photographer Amit Chakraborty and driver Raju, we started frequenting the port and spent a week there in an effort to strike a rapport with the port handlers to get a detailed account of the routes from where the coal is being transported. The pollution control board though had issued notices to the respective companies transporting coal but the efforts proved to be futile. It is only after the series of reports appeared on the newspaper that the board has now imposed strict restrictions, withdrew permissions and passed a resolution against coal imports.”

Ms Puja Awasthi, a Lucknow- based print and online journalist, won the third prize in The Statesman Rural Reporting awards for her detailed coverage of tales that narrated the plight of women especially in the states of Odisha and Bihar that comprised abuse and barbarism and how they fought their way out of it to live as per their will.

Speaking on the issue, Ms Awasthi said “Despite this being 2018 when we talk of several freedoms, by and large, our society continues to be a patriarchal one where women are still oppressed. We still discuss freedom of women but it is the men who need to understand that women also possess the will to live independently and freedom should be enjoyed by all genders in the society.”

The problem arises from the hunger of power and the misconception that it is only men who has the right to dominate and control while women should remain submissive. It is not easy for women to wake up one day and stand up for its right as what we are battling is centuries of societal conditioning.”

Ms Awasthi, talking on her reportage, spoke of women in the Dhenkanal district of Odisha and ten Dalit women in Dhibra village of Bihar who were victims of societal injustice and rejection.

In pics: The Statesman Awards for Rural Reporting 2018

These women fought their way out of the vortex of societal evil and have learnt to empower themselves in the way they felt was the best. The ten Dalit women battled barbs from villagers, abusive husbands and centuries-old caste prejudices and went ahead to form a band that came to be known as the state’s first women drummers band -The Sangram Mahila Band who now earns upto Rs 1.5 lakh in a month.

Ankita Anand, a free lancer, was awarded with the second prize in The Statesman Awards for Rural Reporting, 2018. For her exemplary work on uranium mining, Ankita travelled to the innermost parts of Meghalaya, facing lot of hurdles in the form of language barrier and accessibility to report on the environmental hazards that emanated from mining activities.

Her report on the views of experts featuring in the Eclectic North East was an eye opener for the residents of Khasi and Jayantiya Hills who refused to accept progress at the cost of their lives.

According to Ankita, the authorities should not only think about the richness of minerals but should also consider the indigenous people as resources of the area. “The authorities should not only focus on the profitability of the company but also should think about the possible hazards that might affect the people adversely,” said Ankita.

“While doing the report, we found that although the mining work had stopped there were holes kept open. Experts revealed that if water gets inside these holes, on contamination with ground water level could have hazardous effects on humans. Hence, even after mining is closed, the authorities should follow strictest of procedures to prevent health hazards,” pointed out the journalist.

Radheshyam Jadhav, reporter of The Times of India is the third prize winner in The Statesman Awards for Rural Reporting 2018. He has highlighted in his reports the woes of the farm widows in Marathwada and Vidharba regions of Maharashtra. While mostly droughts and farmers’ suicides were being reported, Jadhav’s reportage accentuated on the farm widows who became icons of self-empowerment through their exceptional perseverance both in cultivation and in life claims.

“Although the government and NGOs work in these areas, but nobody can enable one to empower unless one wants,” says the Pune based journalist. “The hurdles of life that these widows have to face, after their husband’s death, are something that is mostly ignored. These widows do not even look for loan waiver as it is only a temporary relief but a permanent source of earning for which they only have their lands as a ray of hope,” he underlined.

Jadhav feels that as a widow finding means of livelihood despite obstacles created by frustrated men folk, makes these women beacons of self-empowerment.