MINNING, ENVIRONMENT AND LIVELIHOOD VULNERABILITY

“Mining activity puts tremendous pressure on local flora and fauna, particularly where
diversion of forest land for mining takes place. The effect of mining on ground water level,
silting of surrounding water bodies and land are also of great concern. Coal mining
contributes greatly towards the economic development of the nation, although it also has a
great impact upon human health. It also has an impact on socio-cultural aspect of the workers
and people residing in and around the coal mining areas. Thus, a holistic approach to mining
activities, keeping in mind the concerns regarding the local habitats and ecosystem is
necessary.
The major coal fields in India are- Raniganj coal field in West Bardhaman district of West
Bengal, Jharia coal field in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand, Korba coal field in Korba district
of Chhattisgarh, Talcher in Angul district of Odisha, Singareni collieries in Bhadradi district
of Telengana, Nagpur and Chandrapura coal field of Maharastra, Neyvelli lignite mines in
Cuddalore district of Tamilnadu, Singrauli coal field and Umaria coal field in Madhya
Pradesh.
These two types of mining activity put a tremendous impact on environment as well as
human society of the areas. Coal mining affects the land, air, ground water and surface water.
The burning of coal releases harmful substances such as Sulphar dioxide, carbon dioxide and
nitrogen dioxide. Sound pollution is a common feature in Raniganj-Jharia coal area.
Water pollution is a great matter of concern of coal mining areas. Rain water is the main
source of underground water. The main causes of water pollution in those areas are drainage
from mining areas. Acid mine drainage contain chlorides, Magnesium, Iron, Manganese,
Sodium, calcium are introduced in water. The water is very much unfit to drinking or
irrigation. The sulphar content of water of Jharia is 8% and of Raniganj is 9%. The ph value
of water of these regions is much high. The contamination of water broke down the aquatic
ecosystem of the areas.
Soil is polluted by opencast mining, removal of top soil, deforestation, coal heaps, coal dust,
burning of coal, machinery use for mining etc. Soil pollution changed the land pattern or land
topography of the whole areas. The vegetable world suffered for the land degradation. Thus
soil of the area is not so good for plantation or plant growth. In Raniganj coal belt area total
34.75% of people suffered from land degradation. Their cultivated land transformed into non-
cultivated land. Kalipahari, Fatehpur, Barachak, Ratibati village of Raniganj coal area very
much affected by the soil pollution and land degradation.
No doubt coal mining benefited some section of society but it adversely effects on the
environment of the area. These environmental problems hamper total eco system of the area.
It contributes towards health problems and infrastructure problem. Coal mining totally
hampers on human society. Some section benefited by it but some became refugee. The State
govt. or Central govt. or local authorities cannot take suitable action on that. The coal
companies cannot give them suitable compensation.”

Q. From the above context , we can analyse the negative impact of mining in Raniganj coal
field of West Bengal & Jharia of Jharkhand, the mining activity badly impacted the local
residents of the place and more specifically those who are involved in the agriculture sector
& the State govt. or Central govt. or local authorities cannot take suitable action on that.