Events & Issues

New Delhi, 30 August 2010

Mining Operations

BAN ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES

By Dhurjati Mukherjee

With the craze for industrialization, mining activities have increased immensely, legally and illegally. The extraction of millions of tonnes of precious ore is a very lucrative business and a major section of the mining industry has scant regard for adhering to prevalent rules and regulations. Moreover, mining activities, specially the illegal ones, are generating pollution on a large scale as environmental guidelines are rarely followed with States competing with each other to lease out mines to industrialists.

Recently, the Supreme Court appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) found that 215 out of 341 working mines in Orissa, more than 60%, were operating without statutory Central Government clearances. The CEC further reported that 15 of these mines have been operating without clearances for more than 20 years, another 17 for 10-15 years and 80 for around 5 years. Ditto the case in Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.

According to rules, if a mine operator applies for lease renewal within the prescribed time under Rule 24(6) of the Minerals Concession Rules 1960 (introduced in 1994), the lease is automatically deemed extended till the State deals with the application. Such ‘deemed’ mines are allowed mining operations even after expiry of the original lease and applications in this regard have been pending before the Orissa Government for more than two decades.

Three cheers to Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh who last week cancelled the lease of the $ 70 billion Vedanta group to mine bauxite at the foothills of Niyamgiri in Orissa. The four-member N. C. Saxena Committee recommended that that the company be barred from mining in the hills, the abode of the Dongaria Konndh and Kutia Kondh tribes as “it would shake the faith of the tribals in the laws of the land”.   

The Committee also found that the corporation had not only consistently violated several laws, encroached upon Government land, got clearance on the basis of false information and also illegally built its refinery at Lanjigarh. Worse, while the Centre had turned a blind eye the State Government colluded with the company.

In Chhattisgarh, the State Government has signed 102 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with industrial houses for production of steel, sponge iron, cement and aluminum since 2004. Of these the Union Environment Ministry rejected the State’s recommendation for mining lease to 8 industrialists in the Hasdeo Anand forests, home to the State’s elephants, because it would lead to felling of 17 lakh trees. In fact, increasing mining in Jharkhand and Orissa has forced herds of elephants and other animals to migrate to the forests in Sarjuga, Jashpur and Korba in Chhattisgarh.

A proposal for an elephant reserve of over 384 sq. km. in Hasdeo Anand forests was sent to the Centre way back in 2003 but as the Raman Singh Government found a 100 sq. km. coal block within the reserve, it withdrew the proposal and shrunk the reserve by about 100 sq. km. The reserve was subsequently cleared by the Centre four years ago but the State Government has yet to notify the sanctuary.

Similarly in Meghalaya, limestone mining to feed a plant which a company was setting up in neighbouring Bangladesh was halted by the Supreme Court a few months back on a plea by a tribal group. As the project had left the area, home to Cherapunji (which once recorded the world’s highest rainfall) starved of rain because of large scale chopping of trees. With the forests denuded, water flowed off instead of being retained in the hilly stretch, affecting the ecology of the area.   

Pertinently, Congress MP and former Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar recently said that the Government’s “one-eyed policy” on Maoists was helping the mining mafia amass huge illegal wealth instead of furthering the cause of development. Similar views have been expressed by many developmental experts who allege exploitation of labourers, children, corruption, evasion of taxes etc. by the mining mafia, sometimes in connivance with political leaders.

Besides, an analysis of the social and environmental impacts of the mining boom in Orissa by activist Samarendra Das and anthropologist Felix Padal in their book ‘Out of the Earth’ point out the technology used in most mining operations has resulted in widespread pollution, directly or indirectly, endangering the health of the poorer sections of society who live near the mining areas.

Another study by the Institute of Rural Management (IRMA), Anand, while referring to the acquiring of mineral resources for industry pointed out that: “There is no legal framework in place for communities to dissent in such activity in their area, if they so desire, or secure a direct stake in the earnings through instruments such as jobs….” The study recommends that MoUs with mining companies “should be re-examined with gram sabhas at the Centre”.

Meanwhile, the Union Government recently acknowledged that its regulatory mechanism is not effective enough to stop illegal mining, particularly of major minerals. Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh asserted, “whether it is the contravention of the Minerals Act or whether it is the contravention of the Forest Conservation Act, the honest fact and the honest truth is that we do not have an effective regulatory system to deal with illegal mining”.    

Though the Centre has decided to set up a commission under the Commission of Inquiry Act 1952 to investigate illegal mining of iron and manganese across the country (and a working group on sustainable mining has been set up), it is not known when illegal mining would be stopped through an effective regulatory system.

But in the interim those companies not adhering to pollution norms should be severely penalized. Also, mining in tribal areas should be preceded by an environmental impact assessment by competent experts and suggestions given should be strictly adhered to by the respective State Governments before allowing mining operations to start.

Most important is the effect wanton illegal mining operations has on the local population who develop various types of diseases. The increasing incidence of water-borne and communicable diseases as also the spurt in cancer can be attributed to the pollution in air, water and soil in adjoining and neighbouring areas of the mining belt.

Tragically, the poor and backward sections, specially the tribals who reside therein suffer the consequences while the mafia-political nexus make money from the country’s mineral wealth. If this trend is not checked, extremist activities would increase in the coming years. ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)