Dear All,
I have sent an article "Open cast mining threatens Assam "
(http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20070831&filename=news&sec_id=4&sid=42)
written by AMARJYOTI BORAH ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) . He is North-East
correspondent of the magazine " Down to Earth"
(Editor:Sunita Narain) http://www.downtoearth.org.in
Amarjyoti Borah has been awarded the prestigious Forum of Environmental
Journalists of India (FEJI) for print.
"The Young Environmental Journalist Award by Forum for Environmental
Journalists of India (FEJI) and the Center for Media Studies (CMS) is for
excellence in environmental journalism and will be given to an individual who
has done exemplary investigative and inspired reporting. This will be
countrywide recognition of two journalists under 30 years old who have made a
significant contribution in either the print or electronic media to an
understanding of the nations environmental problems.
The award carries a cash prize of Rs25,000 each for print and television (TV)
journalists."
Thanking You.
Buljit Buragohain
Open cast mining threatens Assam AMARJYOTI BORAH
AMARJYOTI BORAH Open-cast mines in Margherita, Tinsukia A subsidiary of
the central ministry of coal in Assam is steadily refusing to compensate for
crop damages wrought by its open-cast mining.
This is after the Gauhati High Court told the company to pay
compensation of more than Rs 4 crore in its January 2007 order. The North
Eastern Coalfields (nec), an arm of Coal India Limited, in April appealed to
the court against its order; the matter is pending. The January decision was in
response to a July 2005 petition by landowners affected by the mining
operations near Margherita town in Tinsukia district.
Opposition to open-cast mining is quite old. nec took over the mine in 1973
from the uk-based Assam Railways and Trading Company. In 1985, it switched from
underground mining to open-cast mining, despite protest from residents and the
state environment ministry. Discharge of acidic effluents from excavated pits
have damaged the water sources, while coal particles have rendered large
farming areas unproductive. The pollution control authorities issued nec a
closure notice.
Cast open
Several tribes have made their home in the Patkai hills, which form a natural
border with Myanmar, and are very fertile and biodiverse. The hills also have
coalnot ordinary coal but that with high calorific value and low ash content,
rating with the best in the world, the only disadvantage being its high sulphur
content. Most coal found in India is of low quality with high ash content.
Open-cast mines are cheaper to run, have fewer accidents and yield more than
underground mines. But they destroy the environment, leaving large scars
instead of fertile fields and forests. Neighbouring areas are also polluted
with vast quantities of overburden. Later, these are dumped on low-lying arable
lands or on the hillslopes. The overburden gets washed away with rains, joins
streams and channels and ends up at the Buridehing river causing severe water
pollution.
According to the agriculture department, over 100 hectares (ha) has been
affected, while over 30 ha has become a wasteland due to the deposition of coal
particles. "Production has declined sharply. Earlier if the production was 18
tonnes per hectares of rice, today it is not more than 8-9 tonnes per hectare,"
said agriculture department official Sonadhan Singh.
Jadav Das, once a prosperous farmer, is heavily indebted. Almost half of his
2.4 ha has been affected by coal deposits. Earlier this year, he started a
roadside eatery but he earns only up to Rs 50 per day. "My land's fertility is
lower and I have to use urea now."
Narayan Pradhan, another resident, has other complaints. The fishery he
established with a bank loan is damaged by the but the acidic, contaminated
water from nec. He has defaulted on his repayment, and gets regular reminders
from the bank. "I approached nec but they never helped me", said Pradhan.
A senior soil microbiologist had tested the soil in and around the open-cast
mines and found the ph level alarmingly high. In areas as far as 5.5 km from
the mine, the ph was found to be 2.98. In other nearby areas, the ph level
ranged between 1.96 and 8.13.
The health condition in Margherita has also reached an alarming stage with
cases of tuberculosis (tb), liver cirrhosis, allergy and asthma on the rise.
The most alarming is perhaps the sharp rise in cases of tuberculosis.
Government hospital data shows in 2006, Margherita had more than 450 cases of
tb, both among mine workers and the general public.
Open cast mining threatens Assam "Many working in the open-cast
mines have tb. Body resistance decreases due to pollution and vulnerability to
tb increases," said Lakhyajyoti Gogoi, an official at the Margherita hospital.
Saurav Bhaumik, a territory manager of a biological products company, says the
demand of Coscopin, a medicine for respiratory disease, is in very high in
Margherita.
Opposition
Protests against nec's open-cast mines have been futile. The Purbanchal Welfare
Organisation (pwo), the Assam Council for Environmental Protection, and the
Student Science Society of Assam had first raised their voice against
environmental degradation by the mines. Several pleas to state and central
governments brought no change.
In 1989 Parag Chaliha, parliamentarian from Assam, had questioned Z R Ansari,
the then Union minister of environment and forests ( moef), in parliament,
regarding the environmental damages. Ansari said they were aware of the hazards
of open-cast mining in Margherita and were against it. "If experts say that
only open-cast mining is possible in the area, only then will we agree to it,"
Ansari had said. moef had constituted a committee to evaluate the environmental
degradation. Its 1989 report suggested nec stop mining operations in Tikak
open-cast mines in Baragolai collieries within six months. nec was also
directed to make arrangements for 'neutralising' the pits at all its mines and
assess the damages caused and compensate the affected. None of the
recommendations were followed. nec closed down for a short period but resumed
soon after. By then the protests had lost momentum. "I was threatened, one of
our drivers was kidnapped, and our camera and other stuff were stolen.
We were worn out," said Mausam Hazarika, the then advisor of Student's Science
Society. Pradyut Bardaloi, the local mla, who is also the present state
industry minister, said they had set up strict guidelines for nec. "I met the
Union coal minister on May 29, 2007, and gave him a letter requesting him to
intervene and to take adequate measures to arrest the ill effects of open cast
mining caused by nec," he said.
Catch me if you can
nec has its arguments worked out. They talk of fraudulent cases in which
farmers spread coal in their fields to claim compensation. Farmers laugh at the
idea. "The value of our land is in lakhs of rupees. We'd be foolish to spoil
our land for a few thousand rupees in damages," said Premo Bardaloi, an
affected farmer.
nec officials deny water pumped out of the mines flowed out into the river and
the fields. But in 1987, the then officer in-charge of the environment
management planning cell, had acknowledged that water from the mine did flow
into the river: "There is no question of pollution of the river as the amount
of water pumped out of the mines is small when compared to the volume flowing
in the river."
nec officials said they were planting about 100,000 trees to preserve the
environment, although they knew the saplings survival rate was less than 40 per
cent in the absence of top soil and the presence of high sulphur content.
Authorities
There are claims that open-cast mining is globally accepted, just that the
guidelines haven't been followed in Margherita. "nec just wants to extract coal
and mint money. The people don't concern them," said parliamentarian Sarbananda
Sonowal.
Open cast mining threatens Assam The Assam Pollution Control
Board has also expressed concern over the violation of norms by the open-cast
mines. Its officials inspected the area in September 2006 and wrote to nec
general manager about the violations. The acidic mine water required immediate
treatment, huge overburdens were dumped carelessly, coal yard was not
maintained properly the water from the mine was polluting waterbodies and paddy
fields, said Jawahar Lal Dutta, the board's chairperson. "We had given them six
months. They have not replied as yet. We will make another inspection and if
they aren't following the required norms and guidelines, we will serve them a
closure notice," he said.
The Centre has provided no relief. Instead, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
Rajya Sabha member from Assam, announced in January 2006 a Rs 3,000-crore aid
for the modernisation of open-cast mining in the region.
nec plans to expand its business and start another open-cast mine in Ledo this
year, and new mines in Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. "There is a
demand of 12.11 million tonnes of coal, so we have to set up more open-cast
mines. Currently, the annual production is 1.1 million tonnes, of which 9.5-10
lakh tonnes is from open cast mines and the rest from underground", says
Debasis Sarkar, additional general manager of nec.
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20070831&filename=news&sid=42&page=1&sec_id=4
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