The threat of nuclear war between India and Pakistan seems to have abated slightly — for the moment — but what about the consequences of India’s nuclear testing? Four years after the country exploded nuclear devices in underground tests in the Thar desert near the Pakistan border, villagers are questioning the government’s pat assurance that no radioactivity was released. In Khetolai, a village about two miles from the military test range, cows are giving birth to blind and diseased calves. In an area where no crops can grow, the cows are the villagers’ livelihood; they cannot survive without them. But the government hasn’t compensated them for their losses, and what little money did come in after the testing ($100 to $200 to fix cracks in homes and water cisterns) was insufficient. Residents weren’t evacuated during the nuclear testing, and little to no medical examinations and care have been offered.
