The World Bank Group caused serious harm to fishers, farmers and villagers in northwest India by bankrolling a giant coal-fired power plant on an ecologically fragile stretch of coastline, a lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. federal court in Washington argues. The suit accuses the World Bank Group’s private-sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), of “irresponsible and negligent conduct” in handling its $450 million financing package for the coal plant. Lawyers for EarthRights International…filed the case on behalf of people living and working near the coal plant…The IFC would not comment directly on the lawsuit’s claims. An IFC spokesperson provided a statement saying that the Tata Mundra plant “provides reliable power to rural and urban-based domestic consumers…” The spokesperson said the IFC and the plant’s operators have been working to address local community concerns.