PONDA, March 19 -- SANTOSH NAIK

With dust in their food, their homes and their lungs, the residents of Undir in Bandora are living a life that has turned into an unending struggle. Dust pollution due to sand blasting at a nearby ship-building site threatens to upend their lives, leaving their health in peril.

Ironically, local residents had filed a complaint with Goa State Pollution Control Board on December 9, 2024, but officials visited the area only on Tuesday, stating after an inspection that the shipbuilding company had been ordered to take precautionary measures to prevent dust

pollution.

The shipbuilding activities have been going on for over a year at a dock on the Zuari River, where a large ship is being constructed. The sand...