In one corner of Jodhpura in Rajasthan’s Kotputli-Behror district, Hari Ram sits under a protest banner with 15 other men, a green inhaler in hand. Behind them, a banner reads: “UltraTech Cement Plant (KCW) Mohanpura-Jodhpura Gate. An indefinite sit-in protest has been staged here for the last 1,090 days, demanding the closure of the plant or rehabilitation of Mohanpura-Jodhpura village.”

Suddenly, a loud blast echoes from the nearby limestone quarry. “That was only a small blast,” Hari Ram says. “If you heard the others, you would be terrified.”

It has been over a month since the Central Zone Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered the Rajasthan government to set up a committee to rehabilitate the entire village, holding UltraTech Cement Ltd responsible for environmental dama

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