Lignite is a photographic project documenting the disappearance of villages bordering the Neyveli Lignite mines due to industrial expansion, a process residents cannot control. Mining activities permanently alter the land’s physical characteristics, affecting soil composition, elevation, and water distribution, which in turn devastates agricultural livelihoods. Through photographs, the project highlights the villagers' deep connection to their land and the inescapable cycle of displacement caused by decades of industrialization. The work visually documents how these environmental transformations compel residents to adopt hazardous new livelihoods as unskilled contract labourers within the mines. By documenting the orientation of land features and human settlement patterns, the project underscores the irreversible impact of resource extraction on local communities. Ultimately, "Lignite" serves as a witness to the profound social and environmental costs of development, capturing the tension between industrial necessity and the preservation of ancestral lands and the dignity of those who inhabit them.