Poonam, 6, plays around under the monsoon rain in Oriya Basti, one of the settlements where the water was polluted with waste from Union Carbide’s (now DOW Chemical) abandoned chemical plant in Bhopal, Central India. Every year during the monsoon rain season, the water washes out waste burial sites and contaminates the groundwater.

Poonam, 9, stands inside the old house where she lived until June 2011. The photo was submitted to the Photographers Giving Back
Awards contest in Sweden and won a $5,000 cash prize. He spent the money on improving the girl’s living conditions and her education.

Poonam, 10 (third from left), and her classmates celebrate India's Independence Day on the streets of Oriya Basti, near Union Carbide’s (now DOW Chemical) abandoned chemical plant in Central India.

Poonam, 9, (left) her sister Jyoti, 10, (centre) and their brother Ravi, 11, (right) are about to start their very first day in a small private school located by their newly built home, in Oriya Basti, one of the water-contaminated colonies in Bhopal, central India.

Twelve-year-old Poonam (left) and her 13-year old sister Jioti (right) sit on the floor during classes in a private school.

Poonam, 11 (center), her older sister Artie (left) and their four-year-old friend Dipshika (right) apply a bindi to their foreheads in their new home in Oriya Basti, near Union Carbide’s (now DOW Chemical) abandoned chemical plant.

Early in the morning, twelve- year-old Poonam (left) and her thirteen-year-old sister Jioti prepare to go to the small private school they have been attending since 2011.

Poonam, 12 (right), and her older sister Artie, 18 (left), celebrate Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, in the courtyard of their new house in Oriya Basti.

Poonam and her family live in Oriya Basti; its groundwater was polluted by waste from Union Carbide’s (now DOW Chemical) abandoned chemical plant in Bhopal, Central India.

Suresh Jatav, 43, gives a coin to his daughter Poonam, 10; sitting next to her is her brother Ravi. Sangeeta Jatev, Poonam’s mother, cooks vegetables for dinner.

(Left to right): Jioti, 10, Poonam, 9, and their paralyzed older brother Sachin, 17, in a wheelchair, play in the streets of Oriya Basti.

Nine-year-old Poonam (center) plays with her sister Jioti (left) on the streets of Oriya Basti.

Jioti, 10 (left), hugs her older sister Artie, 15, as nine-year-old Poonam (right) plays nearby.

Ten-year old Poonam (centre) is bitten by a stray puppy, picked up on the streets of Oriya Basti; Sachin (right), the girl’s paraplegic brother,plays a game on his cellphone. Poonam’s sister Jioti (left) and her mother, Sangeeta Gatev, sit in the yard of their new house.

Jioti (right) touches her younger sister Poonam’s arm.

Twelve-year-old Poonam (left) combs her hair and watches her thirteen-year- old sister Jioti (center) and Artie, 18, as they dance to music playing from a TV set.

On Children's Day, November 14, 2014, Poonam’s sister Jioti, 13, argues with a classmate over a piece of chalk.

Eleven-year-old Poonam (center) sits on the floor in the classroom.

Thirteen-year-old Jioti (center) and her twelve-year-old sister Poonam (right) laugh as they finish their homework. Their older sister Artie, 18, paints her nails.

Twelve-year-old Poonam (center) and her thirteen-year-old sister Jioti (behind her) pray before classes in a small private school.