“Those people say there are no fisherfolk here,” says Jam, who is in his mid-50s and dresses in the loose-fitting clothing and knit skullcap of many Wagher men. “There are a lot of us here.”

The coming of the Tata plant and other industrial projects, though, has made it harder for them to make their living on the coast.

Residents of Tragadi Bandar claim in a lawsuit filed April 23 in U.S. federal court in Washington, D.C., that warm water discharged by the Tata plant has driven fish away from the intertidal zone, where the Waghers used to practice pagadiya, a traditional method of setting up nets and harvesting the fish at low tide. The returns from boat fishing, which takes place farther from shore, have also fallen off...

The IFC responded to questions for this article by quoting its own website, which says its investment in the Mundra plant ensured “the best international industry practices."...

...Tata Power declined three interview requests for this story. The company referred queries to the public-relations firm Edelman, which invited written questions and then declined to answer them.

In a broad written response focusing on the plant’s local impacts, the PR firm said the company is “very conscious of its impact on its community and environment and tirelessly works towards mitigating any impact.” It said Tata follows all environmental rules and works with “target neighboring communities” to improve “their quality of lives.”...

[article also refers to Nam Theun 2 dam project in Laos]