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Lat Does Not Exist: Oral Histories of Development-Induced Displacement in India
Imagine if the government one day ordered you and your neighbours to tear down your houses to make way for 'progress'. You are all forced to leave behind your jobs, houses, and ways of life. This has already happened to millions of people in India, and it will happen to many more.
"Lat Does Not Exist" is the story of one village in Chhattisgarh, called Lat, which was torn apart to make way for a pit mine meant to produce coal to fuel India’s growing economy. It consists primarily of the transcripts of 19 interviews, in which residents tell their own stories, in their own ways, at length.
A series of portraits and photo essays completes the glimpse this book provides into the lives of those Lat residents still bitterly hanging onto their homes in a fragment of the village remaining just metres from the edge of the coal pit, as well those former residents who have already relocated.
Co-editor Sam Tranum conceived this book while writing another: "Powerless: India’s Energy Shortage and Its Impact." Researching the intersection of energy production and displacement, he searched for a book that would give unmediated, first-hand accounts of what it was like to be displaced. Unable to find it, he set out with Lois Kapila and Nikhil Roshan to produce it.
It is coal from pits like the one featured in this book that is fueling the economic growth of urban north-western India. It is people like the ones who tell their stories through "Lat Does Not Exist" who are paying the price of keeping Mumbai glittering, and ensuring the lights stay on in Delhi’s halls of power.
"Lat Does Not Exist" is the story of one village in Chhattisgarh, called Lat, which was torn apart to make way for a pit mine meant to produce coal to fuel India’s growing economy. It consists primarily of the transcripts of 19 interviews, in which residents tell their own stories, in their own ways, at length.
A series of portraits and photo essays completes the glimpse this book provides into the lives of those Lat residents still bitterly hanging onto their homes in a fragment of the village remaining just metres from the edge of the coal pit, as well those former residents who have already relocated.
Co-editor Sam Tranum conceived this book while writing another: "Powerless: India’s Energy Shortage and Its Impact." Researching the intersection of energy production and displacement, he searched for a book that would give unmediated, first-hand accounts of what it was like to be displaced. Unable to find it, he set out with Lois Kapila and Nikhil Roshan to produce it.
It is coal from pits like the one featured in this book that is fueling the economic growth of urban north-western India. It is people like the ones who tell their stories through "Lat Does Not Exist" who are paying the price of keeping Mumbai glittering, and ensuring the lights stay on in Delhi’s halls of power.
286 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2014
7 people want to read
About the author
Sam Tranum
12 books17 followersOriginally from Massachusetts, I worked as a staff reporter at the Charleston Daily Mail, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and Energy Intelligence in Washington DC. I also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Turkmenistan, and taught journalism at the American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan. I have an MA in international relations from the University of Chicago.
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