Tailing Pond: Short film on Jadugoda tribal woes

Jamshedpur, Nov 17: ‘Tailing Pond’, an award-winning short film directed by contemporary director Saurav Vishnu, will have its worldwide TV premiere exclusively on the ShortsTV network on Saturday, November 20 at 8.00 pm IST on ShortsTV that will be available on Tata Sky (channel 113), Dish TV & d2h (channel 135), Airtel Digital TV (channel 259), ShortsTV on the Airtel Xstreme APP and Amazon Prime Video Channels.

 ‘Tailing Pond’ showcases how tribal families in Jharkhand’s Jadugoda are suffering from chronic medical conditions.      The sole cause of their grief is uranium radiation. The 20-minute short film gives audiences a brief introduction to the horrifying effects of uranium poisoning on innocent tribal people. The film took all of five years of unrelenting slog and more than 160 hours of shooting to see the light of day. “However, making one short film is not enough to spotlight the suffering of the people of Jadugoda. As such, I will make a a six-episode documentary series that will delve deeper into the issue of their miseries and expect it to air in 2022,” said director Saurav Vishnu.

‘Tailing Pond’ provides an insight into the harmful impact of uranium mining and severe effects on the health of the indigenous population of Jadugoda. In 1951, the government of India realized its fortune in uranium and, in 1967 formed the Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL) to oversee all of the country’s uranium mining activities. However, the creation of UCIL turned a devastating turning point in the lives of tribal families in Jadugoda. The conscience-reckoning documentary sheds light on the hazardous health conditions one village has faced through generations.

There are nine other tailing ponds in and around Jadugoda. Through this short film and the upcoming docuseries, director Saurav Vishnu has sought to draw attention to the UCIL’s irresponsible nuclear waste dumping methods. The story is about the families who have been suffering through many generations and are still affected by the nuclear contamination as slurry from the ponds continues to seep into the local soil and groundwater, exposing the locals to a highly toxic radioactive environment.

“Being from Jharkhand, I personally took on the responsibility to bring out the true story of the people of Jadugoda,” said ‘Tailing Pond’ Director, Saurav Vishnu. “I am humbled that the people of Jadugoda trusted me and allowed me to enter their lives with a camera to document and share their story with the world. We are grateful to ShortsTV for providing us a global platform to showcase this film and to Cynthia Nixon for giving her voice to the cause. Our purpose is to get people talking, resulting in policy change over Jadugoda. We are thrilled that audiences across India and the world will now get to see this important film.”

‘Tailing Pond’ Narratorand Sex and the City’ star Cynthia Nixon, said, “When Saurav approached me for ‘Tailing Pond’ I was overwhelmed by the story. After learning about the suffering of innocent tribal people, I decided to lend my voice to the project. Jadugoda is a small village in Jharkhand, India, and the local communities have been victimized through genetrations by diseases caused by radioactive waste. I feel proud to be part of the project as it strives to bring global awareness on the horrors being experienced by the people of Jadugoda. I hope audiences are as moved by the story as I have been and that our film helps bring about positive change.”