ecological socio economic and health impacts assessment due to coal mining a case study of talabi

8/2/2019 Ecological Socio Economic and Health Impacts Assessment Due to Coal Mining a Case Study of Talabi

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ECOLOGICAL, SOCIO ‐ECONOMIC & HEALTH IMPACT

ASSESSMENT DUE TO COAL MINING –

A CASE STUDY OF TALABIRA COAL MINES IN ORISSA.

Prepared by –

CONSERVATION & LIVELIHOOD TEAM

(Aruna Murthy, Himansu Sekhar Patra)

January – April 2006

V A S U N D H A R A 15 Sahid Nagar, Bhubaneshwar - 751007



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Our Perspective …

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The aim of this study is to assess the impact of mining activity on the ecology of the study

area and also to assess the impacts on the lives and livelihood of the people living in close

proximity to mining areas.

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1. To assess the biodiversity richness of the study area.

2. To study the impact of mining on local ecology, available natural resources and also

on the overall biodiversity of the area.

3. To assess the dependence of the indigenous people on NTFPs obtained from the richly

forested areas.

4. To study the gradual changes in the land use pattern of the study area.

5.

To study the impact of mining on livelihood of local people.6. To study the impact of mining on the health of local people living in villages and

hamlets surrounding the core mining area with specific focus on women’s health.



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1. Site Selection

2. Review of Literature• Reports from Indian School of Mines, ISM, Dhanbad• Reports of Central Pollution Control Board• Internet sites

3. Collection of secondary information about the study area• Maps•

Toposheets• Environmental Impact Assessment Reports of developments projects in the same

study area

4. Preliminary field visit for gathering primary information about ecological impacts of

coal mining in the study area• Circulation of Questionnaire• Interactions with Local People

• Field Visits to the selected site and its surrounding areas

5. Analysis of Physio-Chemical characteristics of water, soil and vegetation

6. Secondary field visit for gathering information about socio-economic and health

impacts due to coal mining• Interaction with local activists, NGOs and motivated individuals• Sharing of findings• Discussions and meetings with specific communities• Interaction with Health Officials

7. Analysis and compilation of findings to fulfill all objectives

8. Report preparation



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CC OO AALL

Coal is by far the most abundant fossil fuel on earth. It is essentially carbon and is mainly used as acombustion fuel. It is the product of plants, mainly trees that died tens or hundreds of millions of years ago. Due to water logging in low-lying swampy areas or in slowly sinking lagoons, dead treesand plants did not decompose as they normally would. The dead plant matter was covered with waterand protected from the oxidizing effect of air. The action of certain bacteria released the oxygen andhydrogen, making the residue richer and richer in carbon. Thick layers of this carbon-rich substance,called peat, built up over thousands of years. As more material accumulated above the peat, the waterwas squeezed out leaving just carbon-rich plant remains. Pressure and temperature furthercompressed the material. This aided the process of producing coal as more gases were forced out andthe proportion of carbon continued to increase. The carbon slowly metamorphosed into coal overmillions of years.

There are three main types of coal: lignite, bituminous, and anthracite. Lignite and bituminous have alesser percentage of carbon in them and therefore burn faster. They release a great deal of pollutants

into the atmosphere. Anthracite has about 98% carbon and therefore burns slowly and releases muchless smoke. Coal of all types contains sulphur to some degree. Sulphur is the worst of the pollutantsand causes damage to human health and to vegetation. Though petroleum gained importance over the20th century and continues to do so, coal remains essential for the industrial sector. It is the principalheat source for electricity generation in most countries and is used directly in such heavy industries asiron and steel making.

Until recently, most coal came from underground mines. But now there are a large number of opencast mines. Underground coal mines are notorious killers due to roof falls and explosions.Accidents have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of miners. Almost 80% of today's coal comes from

surface strip mines (opencast mines), which is much safer. Huge earth-moving equipment strips off the soils and rocks covering the buried coal seams. The land is backfilled and returned to normal afterthe coal has been removed, thereby repairing the landscape. But most companies do not refill theexcavated area and leave it damaged. Most countries have now enforced backfilling by law.

COAL MINING IN INDIA: THE PAST

I ndia has a long history of commercial coal mining covering nearly 220 years starting from 1774 byM/s Sumner and Heatly of East India Company in the Raniganj Coalfield along the Western bank of river Damodar. However, for about a century the growth of Indian coal mining remained sluggish forwant of demand but the introduction of steam locomotives in 1853 gave a fillip to it. Within a shortspan, production rose to an annual average of 1 million tonne (mt) and India could produce 6.12 mts.per year by 1900 and 18 mts per year by 1920. The production got a sudden boost from the FirstWorld War but went through a slump in the early thirties. The production reached a level of 29 mts.by 1942 and 30 mts. by 1946. With the advent of Independence, the country embarked upon the 5-year development plans. The need for increasing coal production efficiently by systematic andscientific development of the coal industry was being felt. Setting up of the National CoalDevelopment Corporation (NCDC), a Government of India Undertaking in 1956 was the first majorstep towards planned development of Indian Coal Industry.



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NATIONALIZATION OF COAL MINES

R ight from its genesis, the commercial coal mining in modern times in India has been dictated bythe needs of the domestic consumption. On account of the growing needs of the steel industry, athrust had to be given on systematic exploitation of coking coal reserves in Jharia Coalfield.Adequate capital investment to meet the burgeoning energy needs of the country was not forthcoming

from the private coal mine owners. Unscientific mining practices adopted by some of them and poorworking conditions of labour in some of the private coal mines became matters of concern for theGovernment. On account of these reasons, the Central Government took a decision to nationalize theprivate coal mines.

The nationalization was done in two phases: the first with the coking coal mines in 1971-72 and thenwith the non-coking coal mines in 1973. In October, 1971, the Coking Coal Mines (EmergencyProvisions) Act, 1971 provided for taking over in public interest of the management of coking coalmines and coke oven plants pending nationalization. This was followed by the Coking Coal Mines(Nationalization) Act, 1972 under which the coking coal mines and the coke oven plants other thanthose with the Tata Iron & Steel Company Limited and Indian Iron & Steel Company Limited, werenationalized on 1.5.1972 and brought under the Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), a new CentralGovernment Undertaking. Another enactment, namely the Coal Mines (Taking Over of Management)Act, 1973, extended the right of the Government of India to take over the management of the cokingand non-coking coal mines in seven States including the coking coal mines taken over in 1971. Thiswas followed by the nationalization of all these mines on 1.5.1973 with the enactment of the CoalMines (Nationalization) Act, 1973 which now is the piece of Central legislation determining theeligibility of coal mining in India.

COAL PRODUCTION & DEMAND

India's total land area is 3.29 million sq. km and within this only 0.45% area (about 16,000 sq. km) iscoal bearing. Out of this coal bearing area, active coal mining area is about 2500 sq. km. Maximumland degradation in coal mining is caused by open-cast mining and it is currently confined to 20% of the coal bearing land. Additional areas that could be used for open-cast mining would be around 5 to10% of the coal bearing land. Thus, the area where land degradation has taken place and is likely totake place is around 0.2% of the land mass.

Underground production of coal peaked in the late seventies and has fallen slowly since then. Surfacemining, on the other hand, has soared from16 to 160 million tonnes per annum. Of the 588 mines inIndia, 355 are under-ground, but opencast accounts for 75 % of production and employs only 16% of

the total mining work force. Productivity is higher in the opencast sector. However, the pace of growth cannot be sustained for long, as stripping ratios will increase and mining operations run intoland access and other environmental problems.

COAL PRODUCTION

Coal production in India sharply increased from 30 million tonnes in 1940 to over 290 million tonnesin 1998-99. India now ranks 3rd amongst the coal producing countries in the world. Through asustained programme of investment and greater thrust on application of modern technologies, it has



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been possible to raise the production of Coal from a level of about 70 million tonnes at the time of nationalization in early 1970's to 355 million tonnes (provisional - excluding Meghalaya) in 2003-04. Most of the coal production in India comes from Open Cast mines contributing over 81% of thetotal production. A number of large openpit mines of over 10 million tonnes per annum capacity arein operation. Underground mining currently accounts for around 19% of national output. Most of theproduction is achieved by conventional Bord and Pillar mining methods. Side by side, intermediate

technologies using Side Discharge Loaders (SDL) and Load Haul Dumpers (LHD) in Bord and Pillarmethod of working have been introduced. Contemporary technology in the form of LongwallPowered support has also been introduced in a limited scale.

COAL QUALITY

The quality of Indian coal is mainly attributed to its origin. Due to drift origin of Indian coal,inorganic impurities are intimately mixed in the coal matrix, resulting in difficult beneficiationcharacteristics. Over 200 million tonnes of coal reach the consumers with ash content averaging 40percent. Sulphur content in Indian coal is generally less than 0.6 percent and the Chlorine content isless than 0.1 percent. Mercury in coal ranges from 0.01 to 1.1 ppm in Indian coals. Based on ashcontent, gross calorific value and useful heat value, Indian coal is classified in six categories as givenin the table below:

GRADING AND QUALITY OF COAL

Grade (Ash + Moisture % ) Approx. Useful heat value(UHV) (Kcal./Kg)

A 19.5 or less Above 6200

B 24-19.5 5600-6200

C 28.7-24 4940-5600

D 34-28.7 4200-4940

E 40-34 3360-4200

F 47-40 2400-3360

G 55-47 1300-2400

COAL RESERVES

India with 2.7 percent of the world reserves ranks sixth in the world in coal resources, occurring in

Gondwana and tertiary formations. The Gondwana coals are largely confined to river valleys such asthe Damodar (West Bengal and Bihar), Mahanadi (Orissa), and Godavari (Maharashtra and AndhraPradesh). Coal fields of Assam of Jaintia and Barail series, the lignite deposits of Jammu andKashmir, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat belong to the Tertiary age. Most of the coal reserves inIndia are concentrated in the peninsular part within 78 ° to 88 ° E longitude and 22 ° to 24 ° N latitude.As per Geological Survey of India, the estimated coal reserves, down to a depth of 1,200 metre, stoodat 208751.5 million tonnes as on 1.1.99. Of these estimated reserves, down to a depth of 1,200metres, which is considered economically viable are 90 percent of the total reserves. About 83percent of total resources are non-coking coals and 14 percent belongs to coking coals.



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GRADE WISE RESERVES OF NON -COKING COAL (BILLION TONNES )

Sl.No

Name of major Coalfields

Superior Grade (A+B+C)

(5800 Kcal/Kg)

Intermediate Grade(D)

(5000 Kcal/Kg)

Inferior Grade (E+F+G)

(4000 Kcal/Kg)

1. Raniganj & Mugma 9.76 3.10 4.50

2. Rajmahal 0.46 1.71 8.24

3. Jharia 0.19 0.44 5.47

4. East Bokaro 0.02 0.02 0.02

5. West Bokaro 0.01 0.04 0.12

6. Ramgarh - 0.02 0.02

7. South Karanpura 1.06 1.08 2.43

8. North Karanpura 0.68 1.23 8.31

9. Singrauli 1.21 1.52 6.48

10. Pathakhera 0.07 0.10 0.19

11. Pench-Kanhan 0.64 0.32 0.45

12. Umrer - - 0.09

13. Kamptee-Silewara 0.43 0.33 0.61

14. Wardha Valley 0.35 1.55 2.31

15. CIC 1.71 0.29 0.29

16. Korba 0.72 0.44 6.86

17. Talcher 0.95 0.65 21.91

18. Ib-Valley 0.56 2.45 17.75

19. North Eastern 0.83 - -

20. Godavari Valley 2.07 2.36 4.63

21. Other Minor Coalfields 2.05 1.95 16.00

TT OO TT AA LL ((bb iilllliioonn tt oonn nn eess)) 2233..8800 1199..6600 110066..7766

Percent(%) (16) (13) (710)



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F rom mining to coal cleaning, from transportation to electricity generation to disposal, coal releasesnumerous toxic pollutants into our air, our waters and onto our lands. Nationally, the cumulativeimpact of all of these effects is magnified by the enormous quantities of coal burned each year –nearly 900 million tons. Promoting more coal use without also providing additional environmental

safeguards will only increase this toxic abuse of our health and ecosystems.

The trace elements contained in coal (and others formed during combustion) are a large group of diverse pollutants with a number of health and environmental effects. They are a public healthconcern because at sufficient exposure levels they adversely affect human health. Some are known tocause cancer, others impair reproduction and the normal development of children, and still othersdamage the nervous and immune systems. Many are also respiratory irritants that can worsenrespiratory conditions such as asthma. They are an environmental concern because they damageecosystems. Because of different factors like geology, demographics and climate, impacts will alsovary from place to place. For example, effects from coal mining may be the biggest concern in the

coal-field regions of the country, while inhalation exposure may be the foremost risk in an urbansetting and, in less populated rural areas visibility impairment and haze may be of special concern.

Coal Mining

Coal mining harms land, surface waters, groundwater and even our air. Impacts to the land frommining cause drastic changes in the local area. Damage to plants, animals and humans occurs fromthe destruction and removal of habitat and environmental contamination. Surface mining completelyremoves land from its normal uses. Property and scenic values are degraded as agricultural crops,forests, rangeland and deserts are replaced by pits, quarries and tailing piles. Restoring or reclaiming

a surface mine by replacing vegetation and restoring the landscape to its original contours helpsminimize any permanent disruption. However, hundreds of thousands of acres of surface mines havenot been reclaimed, and reclamation of steep terrain is difficult. Finally, despite reclamation efforts,ecosystems may be destroyed and replaced by a totally different habitat.

Mining impacts both surface waters and groundwater. In underground mining, waste materials arepiled at the surface creating runoff that both pollutes and alters the flow of local streams. As rainpercolates through these piles, soluble components are dissolved in the runoff and cause the elevationof total dissolved solids (TDS) in local water bodies. The presence of TDS in a stream usuallyindicates that sulfates, calcium, carbonates and bicarbonates are present. While not a direct threat to

human health, these pollutants make water undrinkable by altering its taste and can also degradewater to the point where it can’t be used for industry or agriculture.

Acid mine drainage is a particularly severe byproduct of mining especially where coal seams haveabundant quantities of pyrite. When pyrite is exposed to water and air, it forms sulfuric acid and iron.The acidity of the runoff is problematic by itself, but it also dissolves metals like manganese, zinc andnickel, which then become part of the runoff. The resulting acidity and presence of metals in therunoff are directly toxic to aquatic life and render the water unfit for use. Some metals bioaccumulate



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in the aquatic food chain. Additionally, bottom-dwelling organisms can be smothered by iron thatsettles out of the water.

Also of concern is the impact mining has on groundwater, including contamination and physicaldislocation of aquifers. These are typically localized effects. Acid mine drainage that seeps intogroundwater is a common cause of contamination. Physical disruption of aquifers can occur from

blasting which can cause the groundwater to seep to a lower level or even connect two aquifers(leading to contamination of both). When a mine is located below the water table, water seeps intothe mine and has to be pumped out. This can lower the water table and even dry up nearby wells. Theprocess of mining, followed by reclamation, changes the permeability of overlying soil, alters the rateof groundwater discharge and increases flooding potential.

Underground mines not only impact groundwater hydrology, they are prone to subsidence.Subsidence occurs when the ground above the mine sinks because the roof of the mine either shifts orcollapses. Subsidence can alter ground slopes to such an extent that roads, water and gas lines andbuildings are damaged. Natural drainage patterns, river flows and aquifers can also be altered. The

extent and severity of the subsidence depends on numerous factors including how thick the overlyingsoil and rock layers are and the mining method.

These problems can be addressed by preventive methods such as leaving enough coal in place toprovide structural support to the mine roof. Deliberately collapsing the mine after the coal isextracted causes subsidence to occur sooner, but more evenly. For existing mines, one “corrective”measure that has been used is backfilling the mine with either mine wastes or combustion wastes.While this approach may seem to solve both subsidence and waste disposal problems, it is actuallyexpensive and dangerous and releases contaminants to the groundwater. In addition, these wastesoften lack the structural strength to support the mine roof.

Mine wastes are generated in huge quantities – on the order of tens of millions of tons per year. Thesewastes include the solid waste from the mine, called “gob,” refuse from coal washing and coalpreparation, and the sludge from treating acid mine drainage.

There are a number of environmental impacts from this waste generation. First, the land where thesewastes are dumped is no longer useable for other purposes. Second, the piles are flammable andsusceptible to spontaneous combustion. Third, they are prone to erosion which is a major concernbecause the runoff and seepage from these piles is highly acidic. As noted above, this acidic runoff contains heavy metals which can end up in local surface waters and seep into groundwater. These

wastes also increase sediment build-up in local waters. Mine wastes have also been used to constructdams around disposal lagoons for liquefied coal wastes. But mine wastes are poorly suited for thispurpose because they aren’t strong enough.

Coal Preparation

At the preparation plant (which is commonly located at or near the mine), impurities that are removedfrom the coal by screening and washing are placed in waste piles. As with the mining waste, rain



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percolates through these piles dissolving soluble components and elevating TDS in local waterbodies. This runoff is also acidic and contains heavy metals.

Transportation

Trucks, rail, coal slurry pipelines and barges transport coal. All of these either directly or indirectly

affect air and water quality. In addition to the ambient air and public health impacts from blowingcoal dust, there is also the air pollution from the vehicles themselves.

Worker Exposure

National dependence on coal as a fuel source also involves worker exposure to high-risk conditions atvarious stages during mining, processing and burning of coal. Although increased mechanization andoversight of the mining industry has increased worker safety over the last century, workers – whetherunionized or not – often work long hours under strenuous conditions. Some of the potential safetyand human health hazards include: inhalation of dust containing crystalline silica during highwall

drilling and mining which can lead to black lung disease; exposure to mercury through inhalation of vapors or mercury-containing dust; inhalation of toxic fumes and gases and exposure to ultravioletand infrared radiation at welding operations; noise-induced hearing loss as a result of prolongedexposure to processing and mining equipment; as well as heat stroke and exhaustion.

Coal Combustion and Air Pollution

Coal contains many trace elements that are released during combustion and end up in the atmosphere,in local surface waters and in combustion waste residues. Some of the trace elements in coal aremetals, including nickel, mercury, arsenic, chromium and cadmium. Other contaminants are sulfur,

nitrogen, chlorine and fluorine. Because of the enormous amounts of coal burned each year – nearly900 million tons – all of these pollutants are released in significant quantities. However, after beingcollected by pollution control devices to prevent emissions to the air, these pollutants are merelyshifted to another waste stream as either liquid or solid wastes. In the absence of air standards andstandards addressing other waste streams, an increased reliance on coal will mean increased releasesof toxic chemicals to the environment.

Continual loading of pollution to the environment is of special concern for contaminants that areeither metals and/or persist in the environment because of their chemical structure (e.g., mercury anddioxin). These pollutants either never go away or do not degrade for an extremely long time. Over a

long period of time, a large fraction of these contaminants may become buried in sediments;however, even small residual amounts of these contaminants are a concern. For instance, a persistentbioaccumulative toxin like mercury accumulates and concentrates in the food chain, which leads tohuman and wildlife exposure to methylmercury.

Exposure to air pollutants from coal mining may occur from direct inhalation or indirect exposurei.e., subsequent ingestion of water, soil, vegetation, or meat, eggs, dairy products, and fish thatbecame contaminated through accumulation in the food chain. Absorption through the skin (dermalabsorption) of coal combustion pollutants may also occur from direct contact with contaminated soil



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and water. Children generally younger than age 6 may also be exposed to pollutants by ingestingcontaminated soil. Pollutants for which indirect exposure is especially important include mercury,arsenic, dioxins, cadmium and lead.

Direct inhalation of the various components of air pollution emitted due to coal combustion can causeasthma attacks, respiratory infections, or changes in lung function. For example, when inhaled, SO2

irritates the lungs, triggering bronchial reactions and reducing lung function. The most measurableeffects occur in children and in people with an already-compromised lung function. Other pollutantsare absorbed and distributed in the body and may produce systemic effects or effects distant from theentry point of the lungs. As a result, organs other than the lungs (e.g. the central nervous system,brain, heart, blood, liver and kidneys) can be affected by air pollutants. Systemic toxicants may causeboth cancer and non-cancer effects.

Subpopulations that may be more sensitive to air pollution include infants and children, elderlypeople, pregnant women and nursing mothers, and people with chronic diseases, such as asthma.Children are not only more sensitive because they are at critical stages of physical and mental

development, but they receive a relatively higher pollutant dose compared to adults because theyhave a lower body weight and higher breathing rate. People who tend to eat locally grown produceand locally caught fish may also receive higher than average exposure to deposited pollutants if theylive close to a facility. In addition, some pollutants are transported in the atmosphere and deposit farfrom the source. For instance, sulfur dioxide is transformed in the atmosphere to sulfuric acid andsulfates, which deposit up to 1000 miles from the source. Mercury can travel even further. As aresult, many locations considered “pristine” are receiving pollutants from the atmosphere.

Health risks from exposure to air pollution depend on how much of the pollutant a person is exposedto and over what period of time, the exposure pathway, whether the person is especially sensitive to

the pollutant and how toxic the pollutant is. Both short-term and long-term (including lifetime)exposure is important in assessing the potential risks. Studies that have attempted to quantify thepotential health risks of toxic emissions are limited due to their failure to account for multiple andcumulative exposure to many pollutants at the same time. This has resulted in assessments thatgenerally underestimate the total health risks from exposure to power plant emissions.

Local Communities are at Risk

Mineworkers and their families also often reside in the communities where the coal is being mined.Some of the additional health risks and dangers to residents of coal mining communities include

injuries and fatalities related to the collapse of highwalls, roads and homes adjacent to or above coalseams being mined; the blasting of flyrock offsite onto a homeowner’s land or public roadway; injuryand/ or suffocation at abandoned mine sites; and the inhalation of airborne fine dust particles off-site.In summary, there is nothing clean about coal. Everything related to mining, combustion, wastedisposal, and each activity in between, adversely affects public health and the environment. Coal-fired power plants cause a host of environmental harms; promoting increased reliance on coal withoutadditional environmental safegaurds is certain to increase those harms. The time is now for coal-firedplants to clean up their act.



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Coal Mining - a toxic industry

Coal is the dirtiest of all fuels. From mining to coal cleaning, from transportation to electricitygeneration to disposal, coal releases numerous toxic pollutants into the air, water and land. These

disrupt ecosystems and endanger human health. Some cause cancer, others damage the nervous andimmune systems, and some impede reproduction and development. The environmental effects of coaluse range from the poisoning of local rivers by acid mine drainage to the global problem of climatechange caused by CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions.

Figure 1: The impacts of coal use on land, water and air.

Illustration by Alan Morin , reproduced by permission of Clean Air Task Force



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Coal mining: Coal mining causes extensive degradation to natural ecosystems such as forests andcan scar the landscape irreparably. Damage to humans, animals and plants, occurs due to habitatdestruction and environmental contamination.

Mine wastes: Mine wastes are generated in huge quantities and must be disposed of. The wastes areflammable and prone to spontaneous combustion. They also contain heavy metals capable of leachingout into local rivers, streams and groundwater. Coal washing generates similar waste problems.

Acid mine drainage (AMD): Sulphuric acid is created when exposed coal gets wet and dissolvestoxic metals. The resulting run-off is directly toxic to aquatic life and renders the water unfit for use.Furthermore, some of the metals bioaccumulate (i.e. build up in living things) along the aquatic foodchain.

Health and safety in the mines: Mining is dangerous and has high injury and mortality rates.Potential health and safety hazards include respiratory illnesses such as emphysema, black lungdisease and chronic bronchitis; exposure to toxic fumes and gases; noise-induced hearing loss;heatstroke and exhaustion.

Transportation: Trucks, rail and barges used to transport coal all affect air and water quality. Aswell as the environmental and health impacts from blowing coal dust, there is also the air pollutionfrom the vehicles themselves.

Trace Elements: Coal contains numerous persistent, bioaccumulative trace elements that arereleased during combustion and end up in the atmosphere and water bodies. These include mercury,dioxins, arsenic, radionucleotides, cadmium and lead.

Dioxins: Known human carcinogens and some of the most toxic compounds known to science,dioxins can also be formed when coal is burned, since most coal contains chlorine.

Coal Combustion Waste (CCW): CCW such as fly and bottom ash, and ‘captured’ pollutants(pollution that has been removed during the coal burning), is normally disposed of in landfill sites orsold for industrial use. For example, Huntly power station sells some of its waste for use in cement.Regardless of how CCW is disposed of, there is a risk of toxic metals leaching into nearby surfaceand ground water. People who drink, over a period of years, an average amount of watercontaminated with CCW have a higher risk of cancer.

CO2: Coal is the most carbon intensive fossil fuel, emitting 72% more climate changing CO2 perunit of energy than gas. There are no commercially available technologies to capture and store CO2.

Such technology is very expensive and will not be available for at least 20-30 years.

Summary:

‘Clean coal’ is a myth. Everything to do with coal - from mining to combustion to waste disposal,and all the intervening processes, adversely affect public health and the environment. An increasedreliance on coal will invariably result in the increased release of toxic chemicals into theenvironment.



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M ining from a gender perspective in India has to address a crucial area women’s health. The healthhazards and degeneration of the health conditions of women and children is one of the most seriousimpacts of mining. Here, women’s health has to be understood from a larger perspective of direct andindirect impacts - the exposure of women and children to mine disasters and mine pollution as well asto the reduction in quality of life due to denial of access to food security, natural resources andlivelihoods. In India, this poses a much more dangerous situation as impacts of mining have beendiverse depending on the nature of the minerals extracted and the extent of exploitation.

Despite people suffering from several forms of ill health, physical and mental deformities, constantexposure to toxic wastes and chronic diseases as a result of mining, there is a tragic gap in theavailability of ‘scientific’ studies and data on the health hazards of mining in India and more so onthe women in mining affected communities. This has provided an ideal opportunity for miningindustries to walk away from any responsibility towards the health of communities and workers theyaffect.

The apathy, lack of understanding and political will and gross corruption of the government enhancesthe scope of the industry to continue with impunity. As health issues are considered ‘technical’ and‘scientific’, the complaints and evidence from communities and workers of the relationship betweenmining operations and their ill health are brushed under the carpet by the law implementing,monitoring and judicial authorities, on the pretext of improper and inadequate scientificcorroboration.

Pitted against these forces are the women in the mining regions, whose health issues in general also,are marginally addressed in the country. Our development policies, especially in the context of economic activities like mining do not take into account, women’s health as important indices forhuman growth and development. Hence mining is one of the largest ‘sustainable’ industries. How

true is this in the context of Indian women rural, tribal and urban poor who cannot articulate thevictimization of their bodies for the extraction of minerals?

Health Impacts of Mining on Women in Communities: Living in the midst of dust and sewages

Majority of the health problems in mining regions are caused due to unchecked pollution and highlevels of toxicity, mine tailings and mine disasters. The health and safety problems vary from onemineral to the other, from the technology used, type of mining- open cast to underground - and thesize of operations. The lands, water bodies, air and environment are polluted due to constant releaseof chemical wastes, dust generated by blasting and excavation, and the dumping of mine wastes andover-burden in the surrounding lands and rivers.

Even women and children who are not working in the mines are constantly exposed to variousrespiratory illnesses due to inhalation of dust particles and become victims of skin diseases,experience malfunctioning of various sensory organs, which has a long-term impact on theirreproductive health. Noise and dust pollution affects women the most during pregnancy. Foreconomic reasons, they have no choice but to expose themselves and their children to severe healthrisks, which not only threatens their lives, but also that of the fetuses. For example, the most commondiseases suffered by people due to the dust from the coal mines are tuberculosis, cough and cold,malaria, skin diseases, diarrhoea, staining of teeth, joints pain, arthritis, lethargy, etc.



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In our research on the Health Impact Assessment due to coal mining in Talabira Coal Mines of Orissa, it has been found that metals like fluoride, manganese, nickel, and sulphate are high inconcentration in drinking water. The study assessed that metals like arsenic, mercury, fluoride, nickeland chromium may cause problems to the human beings even if they are present in trace amount inthe drinking water. In an article published by Down To Earth, it was found that Damodar River andits triburtary have been polluted by Arsenic and Mercury, two of the lethal minerals. Ironconcentrations were found to be very high in surface water of these areas.

As a result of these toxic wastes in the water and soils, it was found that the longevity of thecommunities living in the coal mines has reduced drastically. The average longevity of women wasfound to be 45 and in most of the villages only one or two women had crossed the age of 60!Majority of the children are reported to be lethargic as a result of inhalation of toxic dust andconsumption of contaminated water.

Water Problem

Communities surrounding mine-sites are forced to consume the contaminated drinking water fromsources like rivers, streams, wells and bore pumps due to ill-treated or non-treated chemical wastesand debris by the mining companies which seep into the ground water and soil. Women in particularare more susceptible to water pollution due to the role they play in the family, which involves contactwith water sources for performing the household chores like collecting water, washing clothes,utensils and bathing children.

The depletion of ground water due to over consumption for mining purposes bringing seriouschanges in the water table affects the irrigation and drinking water facilities of the communities. Inmany places, companies set up treatment plants which do not function and the situation deterioratesto such an extent that the ground water cannot be used for human consumption any longer andsometimes villages ‘voluntarily’ relocate or migrate.

Villagers have no alternative but to drink the water of the wells provided by the miners which peopleoften complain of foulness in taste, colour and with filth in the contents. Areas of large-scale miningare facing acute scarcity of water mainly in summer and in winter season. Dug wells generally getdried up in these two seasons. Natural drainage system is obstructed and diverted due to dumping of overburden and expansion of opencast mines

At times companies supply drinking water by trucks to the local communities as they draw up all theground water. This dependence on the companies leads to a situation where the communities have toconstantly fight with the management for regular and adequate supply of water creating a situation of conflict. Women and children spend a large part of their time and energies waiting in queues forwater and which also results in reduction in water consumption by the women due to rationing of water supplies.

The women are thus forced to lead unhygienic lives by not bathing daily, not washing clothesregularly and not drinking water adequately. This is one of the most common situations in any of thecoalmines in India. Our study revealed that due to water contamination the villagers avoid taking batheveryday, and that there is a gap of 5 to 10 days. Clothes are kept unclean and washed infrequently.Children are the most affected due to living in such unhygienic conditions and filth.

The water scourge also leads to social ill-health as tensions build up among the women every daywhile collecting the meager and uncertain supply of water in the slums and shanty towns of the mine-sites.



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Blasting and Mine Accidents

Communities living around the mine sites are constantly vulnerable to mining accidents. Miningcompanies use explosives for blasting which result in houses cracking and collapsing on women andchildren or when companies do not warn them of explosions while they are working in the fields orwalking in their villages, thereby either killing or deforming them. Similarly, companies leave behindlarge mine pits around the houses and agricultural fields, which gradually get filled with

contaminated water and debris and result in children and women (and even most often, livestock)accidentally falling into them and drowning or getting fatally injured. Companies rarely have takenresponsibility for such accidents nor paid up for the losses or treatment. Especially when women getinjured or disabled it is becomes most difficult to eke out a living or look after the children when themen are away in the mine-pits.

Health Conditions of Women Mine Workers

Women are employed in secondary activities such as cutting, sorting, quarrying and loading andunloading. Constant contact with dust and pollution and indirectly through contamination of water,air, etc cause severe health hazards to the women mineworkers. As majority of the women workersare contract labourers, and paid on a daily wage basis there is no economic security or compensationpaid due to loss of workdays on account of health problems. Meager or no compensation is givenduring pregnancy period that puts a strain on incomes and health. Even during pregnancy womenhave to work in hazardous conditions amidst noise, air pollution that have adverse affects on theiroffsprings.

The work conditions, work timings, leave facilities, etc have significant impact on women’s health.Children are also unsafe and indirectly affected right from conception and birth as women are forcedto take their children to the mining areas and expose them to high levels of dust, pollution, mineexplosives and accidents. The women suffer from several occupational illnesses such as respiratoryproblems, silicosis, tuberculosis, leukemia, asbestosis, arthritis, etc. Infant mortality rates haveincreased and the reproductive health of women has reduced which has given rise to related socialproblems. Lack of proper illumination, safety nets and equipment causes severe strain to womenworkers’ health.

Loss of eyesight is common, as women are not given any protective gear in any of the mine-siteswhile loading and transporting coal manually. In some places they are given iron and mineralsupplements injected into them in order to increase their work output and to build up resistance forthe hard labour. Apart from terminal illnesses, a more concurrent and chronic problem of womenworking in mines is the development of muscular and back pains, wearing out of joints, arthritis andspondilosis, numbness, fatigue and lack of stamina, breathlessness, constant coughs, irritation in theeyes and a general physical incapacity.

In many unorganized mines the mine owners take very young people and there is a high rate of

turnover and retrenchment so that any terminal or chronic health problems that the workers maysuffer cannot be traced to the companies by government or researchers.

It is also difficult to medically prove the association of certain mine induced illnesses and diseases asin the unorganized sector labourers keep shifting between different forms of livelihood likeagriculture, construction work, etc and rarely are available for longitudinal studies. Companies try tohide the true conditions of workers’ health and attribute their illnesses to addictions like alcoholismand smoking. Hence, silicosis, and other respiratory illnesses are medically diagnosed as tuberculosisor other such illnesses incurred by workers from alcohol, by the mining companies and governmenthospitals so as to deflect any direct correlation to the mine specific pollution and toxicity.



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Sexual Exploitation

In some mining communities discrimination is made towards employing mostly unmarried womenand girls, the rational being, they are healthier, stronger and do not have much of family burden. Theyare also easy prey to the contractors, mining officials and other mineworkers who do not bring theirfamilies along and sexually exploit the local women. The women for fear of further harassment and

loss of employment rarely report sexual exploitation. Serious health problems such as AIDS andother communicable diseases which are uncommon among the tribal communities are becomingrampant in mining towns both among women mine labourers and among women in the communitiesto whom these diseases are transmitted from the men.

Women living in the mining regions are highly susceptible to sexual assaults when going to the forestor while walking to their fields or just while living in their homes. Such atrocities on women mostlyby migrant mine workers, contractors, mine owners and even higher-level management staff arecommon in mining towns. Many of the grass-roots groups and communities in the mining regionshave identified this as a cause for serious concern.

In some cases, when social action groups expose the misdeeds, the local authorities hastily pay ameager compensation and hush up the issue. The mining regions have a widespread problem of unwed mothers, deserted women, concubines of the contractors, etc who find it difficult to eke out aliving for themselves and their children leading to death of infants due to malnourishment. Auniversal phenomenon in all mining regions is the flourishing of the flesh trade as women are forcedinto prostitution as the only means of ‘assured’ livelihood.

Deterioration in Health Status due to Loss of Livelihoods and Access to Natural Resources:

A comparative study of pre-mining and post mining communities in this region shows a clear shift inlivelihoods and way of life particularly for women in the affected communities. Displacement fromland and loss of access to forests has a direct impact on the health and nutrition of women andchildren. In traditional land and forest-based form of livelihood, the communities had access to awide variety of agricultural and forest.

The diversity of crops grown by these communities are a means of ensuring balanced nutrition whichis supplemented by the variety of forest species like tubers, roots, leaves, fruits and nuts collected bythe women and children. Since access to food is not dependent on cash flow as against the need to

purchase even basic food items in a non- agriculture and forest based economy like mining, womenhave better access to food security in traditional systems.

In mining situations, women are completely thrown out of their economic roles and as they are forcedto depend mainly on the wages of the men, they have lesser cash flow and lesser participation indecision-making on food and household expenditures. On the face of it, mining towns look affluentas even the poor purchase assets like radios, television sets, furniture, clothes and other commodities.A greater part of the incomes are also spent away by the men on vices like alcohol, gambling andsexual exploits. Studies have proved that there is lesser expenditure on basic food items as money is



17

frittered away by the men on wasteful commodities. The obvious victims are women in the familieswho sacrifice their food and medical needs for making both ends meet from within the wages sparedby the men.

The forest cover degenerates gradually in all mining regions due to pressure from mining operationsand from new populations settling down in the fringes. Among forest dwelling communities,

women’s main source of cash is the forest wealth, which they collect and sell in the village markets.After selling the produce, the women purchase food and other household items from the market andare in a position to save in seasons when the forest produce is collected in abundance. It is from thisincome that they meet their medical expenses, purchase clothes for themselves and their children andinvest in agricultural needs.

Thus, the loss of traditional rights over land and forests has contributed to the deterioration of women’s health status. The only access to health care for women- the forest rich in medicinal plantsbecomes inaccessible leaving them without this important natural source. Further the miningactivities have introduced a number of previously unheard of diseases among the tribals, whichmakes their traditional health remedies ineffective.

Since medical services and medicines have to be purchased (if available), women neglect theirillnesses, as they never have the cash. The mining companies provide hospitals but these are mainlyfor the employees and management staff of the project. These facilities are most often, not for thosecommunities living around the project and not even for the contract labour employed in the mines. Incertain cases, there is no access even to a Primary Health Care Centre.

Environmental Hazards in Mining Projects:

Mining from time immemorial has remained a major environmental concern. The mining of mineralresources, whether by opencast or underground methods, has adverse environment impacts. Themagnitude and significance of these impacts, however, varies in case of different minerals dependingupon the method of mining and beneficiation, scale and concentration of mining activity inconjunction with the geological and geomorphologic setting of the area. The general environmentalproblems associated with most mining projects is depletion and degradation of existing surface waterand aquifers, tailings leakage, leaching from dumps, land degradation and large scale deforestation.

Despite laws and regulations constituted for the environmental protection of the mining areas, there

are serious health hazards caused due to waste material generated (mine tailings) and dumped on thesurrounding land and river systems. Huge pits of mine waste called tailing ponds carrying overburden are an open danger to the communities living around the mine sites. Rarely are the workers orcommunities knowledgeable of the type of chemicals used for extraction and processing and the toxicimplications on the environment and on their health as a result of this exposure. Hazardous mineralslike asbestos whose extraction and processing have been banned in other countries are still beingoperated in India sometimes in the guise of other minerals.



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CC OO AA LL MM II NN II NN GG LL AA WW SS MM UU SSTT BBEE EE NN FF OO RR CC EE DD

Laws to safeguard the miner’s health where are the protections for women?

T he Mines Act, 1952 has laid out guidelines for safety of workers employed in mines and regulatesthe working conditions and amenities for them. To ensure the implementation of the Mines Act,

1952, the Union Legislature has framed the Mines rules, 1955, Metalliferous Mines Regulations,1961 and the Maternity Benefit (Mines) Rules, 1963. The Mines Act, 1952 prescribes the duty of theowner to manage mines and mining operation and the health and safety in mines. It also prescribesthe number of working hours in mines, the minimum wage rates, and other related issues. The MinesAct was amended in 1983 to cover all personnel solely engaged on work relating to mines within thescope of the Mines Act. This indicates that safety of workers engaged in over ground activities andrelated activities was not considered by the state till 1983.

The 1993 National Mineral Policy addresses the issue of adverse effects of mining on theenvironment and recycling of metallic scrap and mineral waste. The Ministry of Environment and

Forests (MoFF) has identified mining and ore beneficiation along with asbestos and asbestos basedindustries as heavily polluting industries. Legal provisions related to the abandonment and restorationof mines has also been laid down by the Constitution. The Mineral Conservation and DevelopmentRules (1988) in Article 23 has laid down conditions for the abandonment of any mine and hasspecified the need for providing a plan for dealing with the environment. The section on environmentclearly states that the mining company should take all possible precautions for the protection andcontrol of pollution during the mining and post mining operations.

The law states that the holder of a prospecting license or a mining lease shall take steps so that theoverburden, waste rock, rejects and fines generated during prospecting and mining operations or

tailings, slimes and fines produced during sizing, sorting and beneficiation or metallurgicaloperations shall be stored in separate dumps. Further, the dumps have to be properly secured toprevent escape of material in harmful quantities, which may cause degradation of environment, andto prevent causation of floods. The site for dumps, tailings or slimes has to be selected as far aspossible on impervious ground to ensure minimum leaching effects due to precipitation.

The law further lays guidelines to restore or protect the flora of the area under the mining lease andnearby areas, technically, economically and environmentally. The law states that every holder of prospecting license or mining lease shall undertake the phased restoration, reclamation andrehabilitation of lands affected by prospecting or mining operations and shall complete this work

before the conclusion of such operations and the abandonment or prospect of abandonment of themine.The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 (14 of 1981) and the Environment(Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986) states that air pollution due to fines, dust, smoke or gaseousemissions during prospecting, mining, beneficiation or metallurgical operations and related activitiesshall be controlled and kept within “ Permissible Limits”. This permissible limit is highly debatableand controversial issue. Despite these laws protecting the environment and safety of the mineworkers, their situation has little changed or improved nor has there been any benefits provided tothem either during their work on during accidents or disasters.



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AASSSSEESSSSMM EENN TT DD UUEE TTOO CCOO AALL MM IINN IINN GG ––

AA CCAASSEE SSTTUUDD YY OO FF TTAALLAABBIIRRAA CCOO AALL MM IINN EESS

IINN OO RRIISSSSAA



20

II NN TT RR OO DD UU CC TT II OO NN TT OO TT HH EE SSTT UU DD YY AARR EE AA

T alabira-I mines of M/S HINDALCO LTD have a mining lease of 170.305 Ha with 0.4 MTPA

capacity. This is a Captive Coal Mine catering to the company’s Captive Thermal Power Plant, 67.5

MW capacity located at Hirakud, which supplies power to its smelter plant located at Hirakud. The

township nearest to the Talabira-I coal mines is Jharsuguda (at a distance of 15 Km by road). Thenearest railway station is at Lapanga (around 9 Km) located on Sambalpur-Jharsuguda railway line.

The existing block is connected by state village development road with the highway.

RATIONALE FOR SELECTION OF THIS SITE FOR OUR STUDY

I- This coal mine is located very close to the Khinda and the Lapanga forest. Due to rampant

mining activities, a portion of both these forests has been extensively damaged. Some village

forest has also been diverted for construction of road in Lapanga village. The Lapanga Village

forest has been awarded with the Paribesh Mitra award from both the Government of Orissa,and from VASUNDHARA for the exemplary work they have done in forest protecting.

II- This patch of forest is very crucial for the survival of wild animals in this area especially the

elephants. There are a number of reserve forests located in this area, which act as a connecting

link between the Debrigarh wild life sanctuaries and the Badrama sanctuaries. The mines in

question and their rigorous mining activities have been damaging this elephant corridor.

III- Looking from the perspective of the indigenous people of this area, some 144 families have

been displaced due to the mining. But the mining authority has not yet provided the basic

amenities to these displaced people. The environmental norms framed by the regulatory

agencies are not being complied with. The lives of the displaced people in the rehabilitation

colony have been completely destabilized – they have been deprived of all possible means of

earning a decent livelihood. The overburden generated from the mines is dumped over the

nearby village forest. In addition to this, the highly concentrated mine water from these mines

is discharged directly into the Hirakud reservoir without proper treatment. While the

HINDALCO Industries Limited claims to have received ISO: 14000 Certificate through

enforcement of proper steps for Environmental Management, a survey of the actual condition

at the mine site raises questions in our minds regarding the whole certification process.

IV- There are almost 10 industries (especially comprising of integrated steel plant) within a 10 kmradius of this area. In addition to this, a number of major industries are already in the pipe

line. The area is already a pollution hot spot and the temperature hovers around 50-55 0C

during summers. So keeping these issues in mind, a case study in this kind of an area will

definitely give us an insight into the actual problems of this so called industrial corridor.

V- Another significant problem in this area is that of water scarcity. Although this area is situated

close to the Hirakud reservoir, but ironically this area has been declared as a drought prone



21

area. The peoples do not get potable drinking water where as the industries are withdrawing

huge quantities of water for their industrial operations. In our study we have focussed on the

availability of drinking water, the health status of this area and the impact of industrial

activity on the health of the people. It has been found from our study that acute respiratory

tract infections are the most predominant health problem in this area, thereby implying high

air pollution status in this area due to mining and industrial activities.VI- The House Committee on Environment of Orissa Assembly had recently visited these mining

sites and raised their concerns regarding the pollution load on Hirakud Reservoir due to

disposal of untreated mine water into the reservoir.

In response to all these aforesaid reasons, we decided to take up this area for our study and conduct

detailed Impact Assessment Studies from the ecological, socio-economic and health perspective.



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SURVEY RESULTS OF VILLAGE – 1

1-Name of the village and distance from the mines: Lapanga, 2.5 KM in SE direction of the mines.

2-Total population : 2,188(male-1091, female-1,097)

3-SC & ST population : 412(SC), 656(ST).

4- Forest area :

5- Population affected due to mining : 1200(250 – ST, 350 – SC, 600 – General)

6- Drinking water sources and impact on water resources due to mining: Only wells are found.After the commencement of mining activity, water level has significantly receded especially duringsummers and the water has becomes muddy due to high suspended and dissolved particulate matter.The villagers are left with just 2 wells located in the village.

7- Medical facilities in the villages : No medical facilities – the villagers depend upon the KhindaPrimary Healthcare Center for health check ups.

(a)- Nearest health centre : Khinda PHC.

(b)- Number of doctors visiting the villages : The doctors do not visit the villages (Peopleneed to depend on quacks)

8- Diseases usually reported : Cough, ART(I) - Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infections, (acuterespiratory problem), dermatitis and other skin problem, Diarrhea, malaria, joint pain andgastroenteritis.

9- Longevity of the villagers : Around 55 (previous it was 75+)

10- What do villagers do when family members are sick? The villagers are more dependent uponthe Khinda PHC for their health related problem. However some villagers use various types of herbalmedicines available from the nearby forests.

11- Which medicine do they prefer? Villagers are dependent on the medicines supplied by thequacks as doctors do not visit the area. Although they used to depend heavily on herbal medicines,they are deprived of even these since all the medicinal plants are destroyed due to mining activity.Villagers are aware about the use of Homeopathic medicine but are not interested to try them out.

12- Take bath every day : Yes, but have to go to some 2-3 km for bathing purposes. During summerswhen the water becomes scarce, taking bath every day is considered an act of luxury.

13- Washes clothes everyday : No the villagers wash clothes in a gap of 7-10 days.



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14- What type of container do they use for keeping water : Mud pot, earthenwares.

15- Clean the drains regularly - No drainage facility is available in the village.

16- Put bleaching powder in the well : Rarely.

17- Percentage of people who live and work in the city : 25-30 families.

18-Number of people with seasonal allergies that interfere with their daily activities : Most of thevillagers of the villager especially older people, children and women suffer from allergies like skinallergies, cough and cold.

19- Number of death’s per year due to HIV/AIDS: No test has been conducted. No cases reported.

20- Literacy rate : 71%( male 83.9 and female 58.0)

21- Access to potable water per capita: There are only 2 wells in the village. There are no tubewells in the village. Villagers also complain that during most part of the year, the water table is foundto be extremely low.

22 - Average distance travelled to retrieve safe drinking water : 2-3km. (Water collected fordrinking cannot be called ‘safe’ since it is loaded with suspended solids and filtering water througheven an eight layered cloth – sari – does not render the water clean).

23 – Forest land requirement for the open cast project (all in hectares) : No land will be used forthe open cast project but some forest has been cleared for construction of road and for laying pipes.

24 - Livelihood of the villagers and impact on it due to mining activity: Maximum number of thevillagers practices agriculture (14.1%), and some peoples work as agricultural laborers (14.5%).Some people depend upon the NTFP-based livelihood enhancement activities like collection of Kendu leaf for bidi making, hill broom collection for making broomsticks, selling of NTFPs (likeamla, tamarind, honey, turmeric, etc) in the nearby market. Peoples are extremely insecure about theirlivelihood since mining has adversely affected productivity of plants thereby reducing production of NTFPs.

25- What do villagers think of the future? The villagers are in the view that the situation is goingto worsen they are not confident about their life span considering the highly polluted surroundingswhere they live; their prime occupation used to be farming but with large chunks of land being soldout for mining, agriculture as an occupation remains no more profitable since productivity hasimmensely reduced. Similarly the Bidi making persons are mostly affected due to the degradation of the quality of the Kendu leaf. The fish production of this area has also been affected due to thedeposition of dust fines on the water thus checking the water air exchange.



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1-Name of the village and distance from the mines: Bansimal village, 1.5K.M in SE direction of the mines.

2-Total population : 356(male-198, female-158)


4- Forest area : No forest area is found within the boundary of this village, but the villagers havedeveloped a good bamboo forest with the help of forest department.

5- Population affected due to mining : Although no family from this village has been directlydisplaced, but due to environmental pollution, a large number of people are being affected.

6- Drinking water sources and impact on water resources due to mining : 4 Tube wells (nonfunctional), 2 wells (dry up in summer day). The villagers depend upon the water of open pondsduring summers for drinking, bathing and other day to day activities.

7- Medical facilities in the villages : No. The villagers have to depend upon the Khinda PrimaryHealthcare Centre for health check up.

(a)- Nearest health centre : Khinda PHC.(b)- Number of doctors visiting the villages : The doctors do not visit the villages (Peopleneed to depend on quacks)

8- Diseases usually reported : Cough, ART(I) - Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infections, (acuterespiratory problem), dermatitis and other skin problem, Diarrhoea, malaria, joint pain andgastroenteritis.

9- Longevity of the villagers : 55 (previous it was 75+)

10- What do villagers do when family members are sick? The villagers are more dependent uponthe Khinda PHC for their health related problem. Do not use homeopathic or allopathic medicine.



13- Washes clothes everyday : No the villagers wash the clothes in an interval of one month.

14- What type of container they use for keeping water : Mud pot, some people uses old plasticbuckets.

15- Clean the drain regularly - No drainage facility is available in the village. Even there is noproper drainage line near the tube wells.




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17- Percentage of people who live and work in the city . Nil

18- Number of people with seasonal allergies that interfere with daily activities : Most of thevillagers of the villager especially older people, children and women suffer from allergies like skinallergies, cough and cold.

19- Number of death’s per year due to HIV/AIDS: No test has been conducted.

20- Literacy rate : 77.2%( male 92.2 % and female 60.3 %)

21- Access to potable water per capita: There are only 4 tube wells in the village. No tube wells arefunctioning now-a-days. Villagers also complain that most of the time the water table in the well isfound to be too low. During summers the villagers depend upon the pond water for drinking and dayto day water requirements.

22 - Average distance travelled to retrieve safe drinking water : 2-3km

23 – Forest land requirement for the open cast project (all in hectares) : No land has been usedfor the open cast project. But some forest has been cleared for construction of road.

24- Livelihood of the villagers and impact on it due to mining activity: Only 23 villagers arepracticing farming. The fishermen community comprises a major population of the village. Some of the villagers collect Kendu leaf for Bidi making and some people depend upon Mahua flowercollection. The villagers have developed a very dense bamboo forest around their village with thehelp of forest department. Similarly some people have purchased boats with the help of funds fromfishermen society.

The socio-economic condition of this village has been severely affected due to mining activity. TheNTFP production and collection has been severely affected due to deposition of coal dust on thegreen vegetation which ultimately affects its productivity. These villagers generally catch fish fromthe Hirakud reservoir. But due to the disposal of the mine effluents into the reservoir, fish productionhas been drastically reduced. Similarly the villagers complain that due to heavy withdrawal of waterfrom the reservoir by various industries of this area, the ground water level has gone very low. Thefish cultivation in ponds has been affected due to the deposition of coal dust on the water surface.Due to this deposition, the oxygen exchange of the water is adversely affected thereby resulting inmass fish kills. One fisherman from this village Sri. Mangal Barati narrated that he had purchasedfishing net worth 1 lakh rupees by taking loan from the fisherman society. But he is concerned abouthis future as the nets are not being used now-a-days due to reduction in fish production. Similarlyanother fisherman Sri. Biramani Bag of this village narrated his story – he had borrowed 50 thousandrupees from the fishermen society for purchasing fishing nets and has not yet earned even a single

rupee from this fishing net.25- What do villagers think of the future? A sense of uncertainty and insecurity, coupled withhopelessness and depression shrouded the countenance of the villagers as they described about theirwoes. As there is no further scope of development of their livelihood in the future due to the changingsocio-economic scenario, the villagers are thinking of migrating to other nearby place in search of

jobs and financial security. Though this village is situated on the banks of Hirakud reservoir, theirony is that drinking water is not available to them. Such a paradoxical situation has aggravated theirplight.



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1-Name of the village and distance from the mines: Khinda village, 250M in SE direction.

2-Total population : 2,163(male-1106, female-1,057)


4- Forest area and dependence of people on the NTFP : Out of the total forest area of 50.180 ha.

45.46 ha of forest land has been given for mining lease. The villager generally depend upon these

forests for various forest products such as fuel wood, medicinal plants, Amla, Char, Bahada, Kendu

leaf, hill broom, etc. A number of villagers collect the kendu leaf for Bidi making. Similarly most of

the landless families collect green Siali leaf and sells it in the local market.

5- Population affected due to mining : Almost all the villagers are directly affected due to themining activity.144 families have been displaced and about 200 peoples have lost their land due to

mining.

6- Drinking water sources and impact on water resources due to mining : There are 12 wells in

the village but all of them dry up during summers. There are 5 bore wells found in the village out of

which 3 are not functioning presently, while the rest of the 2 dry up during summers. At present, the

plant authorities are distributing drinking water during summer season but to our surprise we found

that this water is directly supplied from a nearby pond which is not even fit for bathingpurposes . The villagers have to go to some 2.5-3 Km for collecting water. When we surveyed the

village no family was found using filter or bleaching powder for disinfecting the drinking water. The

drinking water is loaded with suspended particulates and appears black due to deposition of coal dust

and an oily coat is observed on the water surface throughout the year.

7- Medical facilities in the villages : Yes. The villagers depend upon the Khinda PHC for health

check up.


(b)- Number of doctors visiting the villages : The doctors do not visit the villages (People

need to depend on quacks)

8- Diseases usually reported : Cough, ART(I) - Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infections, (acute

respiratory problem), dermatitis and other skin problem, Diarrhea, malaria, joint pain and



27

gastroenteritis. During an interaction with the PHC doctor Dr R.K Panigrahi, we were informed that

due to scarcity of hygienic water the villagers were falling prey to such diseases. Similarly acute

upper respiratory tract infection is a common disease among the villagers. Most of the population is

afflicted with dust allergies, asthma, and bronchitis. Browsing through the register of the PHC it was

found that during the end of monsoon season and during winter season, respiratory ailments were

more severe.

9- Longevity of the villagers : 50(previous it was 70+)

10- What do villagers do when family members are sick? The villagers are mostly dependent upon

the Khinda PHC for their health related problem. However in case of an emergency they depend upon

the Lapanga health centre. Some villagers use various types of herbal medicines available from the

nearby forest.

11- Which medicine do they prefer? Villagers are dependent on the medicines supplied by the

quacks as doctors do not visit the area. Although they used to depend heavily on herbal medicines,

they are deprived of even these since all the medicinal plants are destroyed due to mining activity.

Villagers are aware about the use of Homeopathic medicine but are not interested to try them out.

12- Take bath every day : Yes, but have to go to some 1-2 km for taking bath. During summers

when the water becomes scarce, taking bath every day is considered an act of luxury.

13- Washes clothes everyday : No the villagers wash the clothes in the span of one month due to nonavailability of water during summer days.

14- What type of container they use for keeping water : Mud pot

15- Clean the drain regularly - No drainage facility is available in the village.


17- Percentage of people who live and work in the city : 20 people from the village

18-Number of people with seasonal allergies that interfere with daily activities : Most of the

villagers, especially older people, children and women suffer from allergies like skin allergies, cough

and cold.




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20- Literacy rate : 69.3%( male 82.2 and female 55.5)

21- Access to potable water per capita: Water scarcity in summer and winter days is the major

problem faced by these peoples. The villagers have to depend upon the pond water, tanker water

supplied by the company (this water is directly supplied from a nearby pond which is even not fit for

bathing purposes) for drinking purposes.

22 - Average distance traveled to retrieve safe drinking water : 2-3 km

23 – Forest land requirement for the open cast project (all in hectares) : 50.180 ha of forest land

is being used for mining purposes. Out of this forest clearance has been given to 45.46 ha.

24 - Basic livelihood of the villagers and affect of it due to mining activity: During survey it was

found that 15.5% of the villagers are cultivators and 22.6% villagers are agricultural laborers. Some

of the people are presently employed with the mines company. But those groups of people whodepend upon the NTFPs are mostly affected due to mining. During a detailed survey in this village, it

was found that the socio-economic condition has been changed significantly due to the mining

activity carried out by M/S HINDALCO. For the last 2-3 years, the company has forcibly encroached

a large part of the village forest where the local villagers are not being permitted to collect NTFP

anymore. Due to deposition of dust arising from the mining activity on the leaf surface area, the

productivity of the vegetation is affected. During our interaction with the villagers, they showed us

the mango trees in their village and told us that due to deposition of coal dust, the flowers of mango

trees get damaged and sadly for the last 2 years no mangoes was found in this area at all. The womenleaf plucker, those who collect the green Siali leaf from the village forest complained that the leaves

from this area had no demand in the market due to their ugly appearance - deposition of a fine layer

of coal dust on the leaves causes spotting and chlorosis due to which the leaves appears full of

patches and is considered unhealthy.

25- What do villagers think of the future? The villager complains that the lands which have not

been acquired by the company are also drilled during various steps of the mining operation thereby

causing hindrance to the rayati land. The rayati land which is enclosed on all sides by the companyacquired land is not being cultivated or used due to non-approach thereby causing great loss to the

concerned farmers. On the rayati land, dumping of overburden is taking place (the photograph and

the GPS location is provided for such a site). The soil has lost its fertility due to the deposition of

mine overburden on the agricultural land. On the whole their future appears bleak and the minds of

the villagers are filled with an overpowering feeling of uncertainty, insecurity and hopelessness.



29


1-Name of the village and distance from the mines: Talabira village, 900M in west direction from

the mine site.

2-Total population : 1751(male-873, female-878)


4- Forest area and dependence of people on the NTFP : Around 972 ha of forest land has been

protected by the villagers. The villagers generally depend upon these forests for various NTFPs such

as fuel, medicinal plants, Amla, Char, Bahada, Kendu leaf, hill boom. A number of villagers collect

the Kendu leaf for Bidi making. Similarly maximum of the landless families collects green Siali leaf

and sells it in the local market. This forest has been proposed to be leased out to MCL in the near

future.

5- Population affected due to mining : Almost all the villagers are being directly affected due to the

mining activity. About 144 families have been displaced while about 200 peoples have lost their land

due to the mining activity.

6- Drinking water sources and impact on water resources due to mining : There are 12 wells in

the village but all them dry up during summers. There are 5 bore wells found in the village out of

which 3 are not functioning presently while rest of the 2 dry up in summer season. At present the

plant authorities are distributing drinking water during summer season but to our surprise we found

that this water which is being supplied from a nearby pond for drinking purpose is not even fit for

bathing purposes. The villagers have to travel 2.5-3 Km everyday for collecting water. When we

surveyed the village no family was found using filter or bleaching powder for disinfecting the

drinking water. The drinking water is loaded with suspended particulates and appears black due to

deposition of coal dust and an oily coat is observed on the water surface throughout the year.

7- Medical facilities in the villages : YES. The villagers depend upon the Khinda PHC for health

check up.


(b)- Number of doctors visiting the villages : The doctors do not visit the villages (People

need to depend on quacks)



30

8- Diseases usually reported : Cough, ART(I) - Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infections, (acute

respiratory problem), dermatitis and other skin problem, Diarrhea, malaria, joint pain and

gastroenteritis. During an interaction with the PHC doctor Dr R.K Panigrahi, we were informed that

due to scarcity of hygienic water the villagers were falling prey to such diseases. Similarly acute

upper respiratory tract infection is a common disease among the villagers. Most of the population is

afflicted with dust allergies, asthma, and bronchitis. Browsing through the register of the PHC it wasfound that during the end of monsoon season and during winter season, respiratory ailments were

more severe.

9- Longevity of the villagers : 50(previous it was 70+)

10- What do villagers do when family members are sick? The villagers are mostly dependent upon

the Khinda PHC for their health related problem. However in case of an emergency they depend upon

the Lapanga health centre. Some villagers use various types of herbal medicines available from the

nearby forest.

11- Which medicine do they prefer? Villagers are dependent on the medicines supplied by the

quacks as doctors do not visit the area. Although they used to depend heavily on herbal medicines,

they are deprived of even these since all the medicinal plants are destroyed due to mining activity.

Villagers are aware about the use of Homeopathic medicine but are not interested to try them out.

12- Take bath every day : Yes, but have to go to some 2-3 km for bathing purposes. During summers

when the water becomes scarce, taking bath every day is considered an act of luxury.

13- Washes clothes everyday : No the villagers wash the clothes in the span of one month due to non

availability of water during summer days.

14- What type of container they use for keeping water : Mud pot


16-put bleaching powder in the well : Rarely.

17- Percentage of people who live and work in the city : 28 people

18-Number of people with seasonal allergies that interfere with daily activities: Most of the

villagers especially older people, children and women suffer from allergies like skin allergies, cough

and cold.




31


21- Access to potable water per capita: Water scarcity in summer and winter days is the major

problem faced by these peoples. The villagers have to depend upon the pond water, tanker water

supplied by the company (this water is directly supplied from a nearby pond which is even not fit for

bathing purposes) for drinking purposes.

22 - Average distance traveled to retrieve safe drinking water : 2-3km

23 – Forest land requirement for the open cast project (all in hectares) : 50.180 ha of forest land

is being used for mining purposes. Out of this forest clearance has been given to 45.46 ha.

24 - Basic livelihood of the villagers and affect of it due to mining activity: During survey it was

found that 15.5% of the villagers are cultivators and 22.6% villagers are agricultural laborers. Some

of the people are presently employed with the mines company. But those groups of people whodepend upon the NTFPs are mostly affected due to mining. During a detailed survey in this village, it

was found that the socio-economic condition has been changed significantly due to the mining

activity carried out by M/S HINDALCO. For the last 2-3 years, the company has forcibly encroached

a large part of the village forest where the local villagers are not being permitted to collect NTFP

anymore. Due to deposition of dust arising from the mining activity on the leaf surface area, the

productivity of the vegetation is affected. During our interaction with the villagers, they showed us

the mango trees in their village and told us that due to deposition of coal dust, the flowers of mango

trees get damaged and sadly for the last 2 years no mangoes was found in this area at all. The women

leaf plucker, who collect the green Siali leaf from the village forest complained that the leaves from

this area had no demand in the market due to their ugly appearance - deposition of a fine layer of coal

dust on the leaves causes spotting and chlorosis due to which the leaves appears full of patches and is

considered unhealthy.

25- What do villagers think of the future? The villager complains that the lands which have not

been acquired by the company are also drilled during various steps of the mining operation thereby

causing hindrance to the rayati land. The rayati land which is enclosed on all sides by the company

acquired land is not being cultivated or used due to non-approach thereby causing great loss to theconcerned farmers. On the rayati land, dumping of overburden is taking place (the photograph and

the GPS location is provided for such a site). The soil has lost its fertility due to the deposition of

mine overburden on the agricultural land. On the whole their future appears bleak and the minds of

the villagers are filled with an overpowering feeling of uncertainty, insecurity and hopelessness.



32

SURVEY RESULTS OF VILLAGE – 51-Name of the village and distance from the mines: Thelkoli village, 1.5 KM distance away fromthe mine site.2-Total population : 1784 (Male-894, Female-890)3-SC & ST population : 385 (SC), 825(ST).

4- Forest area and dependence of people on the NTFP : The villager generally depend upon thenear by forest for various forest product such as fuel, medicinal plants, Amla, Char, Bahada, Kenduleaf, hill broom. A number of villagers collect the Kendu leaf for Bidi making. Similarly maximum of the landless families collect green Siali leaf and sell it in the local market. A large portion of theforest has already been acquired by the Bhusan company for constructing its boundary wall and otherinfrastructure.

5- Population affected due to mining : Around 165 families have been directly displaced due to theinstallation of Bhusan Ltd in this village. Peoples have lost their land due to encroachment of theirland by Bhusan Company.

6- Drinking water sources and impact on water resources due to mining : There are 5 wells in the

village but all of them dry up during summers. There are 5 bore wells in the village out of which 3are not functioning presently while rest of the 2 dry up during summers. The water from these wellsis not suitable for drinking purpose because the water gets coated with a thick layer of coal dust bymorning due to deliberate shut-down of ESPs during night time. At present, Bhusan Company hasillegally constructed some 100 wells in its plant premises as a result of which the water table in thearea has gone down tremendously.

7- Medical facilities in the villages : YES. The villagers have to depend upon the Khinda PHC forhealth check up.

(a)- Nearest health centre : Khinda PHC.(b)- Number of doctors visiting the villages : The doctors do not visit the villages (Peopleneed to depend on quacks)

8- Diseases usually reported : Cough, ART(I) - Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infections (acuterespiratory problem), dermatitis and other skin problem, Diarrhea, malaria, joint pain andgastroenteritis. Acute upper respiratory tract infections is a common disease faced by the villagersdue to heavy dust emissions by Bhusan Ltd. Most of the population is afflicted with dust allergies,asthma, and bronchitis. Browsing through the register of the PHC we found that the situation waseven worse during winter season.

9- Longevity of the villagers : 50 (previous it was 70+)

10- What do villagers do when family members are sick? The villagers are mostly dependent uponthe Khinda PHC for their health related problem. However during emergencies they depend upon the

Lapanga health centre, and the Burla Hospital which is some 35 km away from here. Some villagersuse various types of herbal medicine available from the nearby forests.





33

13- Washes clothes everyday : No the villagers wash the clothes in the span of one month due to nonavailability of water during summer days.

14- What type of container they use for keeping water : Mud pot, some uses the plastic containers.



17- Percentage of people who live and work in the city : 30 people

18- Number of people with seasonal allergies that interfere with daily activities: Most of thevillagers especially the older people, children and women suffer from allergies like skin allergies,cough and cold.



21 - Access to potable water per capita: Water scarcity during summer and winter days is the majorproblem faced by these people. The villagers have to depend upon the pond water during summerseason.

22 - Average distance traveled to retrieve safe drinking water : 2-3km

23 - Forest land requirement for the open cast project (all in hectares) :

24 - Basic livelihood of the villagers and affect of it due to mining activity: During survey it wasfound that 10.8% of the villagers are cultivators, 14.0% villagers are agricultural laborers. Some of the people are employed by Bhusan company. But those groups of people dependent upon NTFPshave been severely affected due to the installation of mines and industries. During a detailed surveyin this village, it was found that the socio-economic condition has been changed significantly due tothe mining activity carried out by M/S HINDALCO, and Bhusan Ltd. For the last 2-3 years, thecompany has forcibly encroached a large part of the village forest where the local villagers are notbeing permitted to collect NTFP. Due to the deposition of dust arising from the mining and industrialactivity on the leaf surface area, the productivity of the vegetation has been adversely affected. Thewomen leaf plucker, who collect the green Siali leaf from the village forest complained that theleaves from this area had no demand in the market due to their ugly appearance - deposition of a finelayer of coal dust on the leaves causes spotting and chlorosis due to which the leaves appears full of patches and is considered unhealthy.

25- What do villagers think of the future: The villagers are quite concerned about the increasingindustrial activities in this area. The major polluting industries like the Bhusan Ltd at Thelkoli, andthe HINDALCO coal mines are causing a lot of pollution in this area. The companies are notcomplying with the environmental norms stipulated by the CPCB but are clearly defying all theorders of both Regional pollution control board as well as orders from the State Pollution controlboard. The villagers have lost their basic livelihood due to immense drop in agricultural productionand due to destruction of village forests.



34

LL AANN DD UUSSEE PP AATT TT EE RR NN OO FF TT HH EE SSTT UUDDYY AARR EE AA The land environment and land use pattern around the mines area in general and 10 KM radius areain particular was studied through various maps, land revenue records along with reconnaissancesurvey on field were done to revalidate the information. Broadly there are five categories of land usearound Talabira. They are building up area, agricultural area, forest, and wasteland and water bodies.Each of these broad categories can be further classified to the existing use of the land.

Rural settlement1 Built up areaUrban settlementAgricultural land

2 Agricultural areaGrooveDense forestOpen forest3 ForestPlantationUndulating upland

Degraded forestGully/ravine area4 Wasteland

Wet landRiver / streamReservoir5 Water bodiesTank and pond

THE DETAILS OF THE LAND USE PATTERN ARE AS FOLLOWS

Land use category Area in Km 2 % of total area in Km 2

Rural settlement 8.040 2.553Urban settlement 6.062 1.929Agricultural land 167.934 53.434Groove 0.172 0.055Dense forest 13.612 4.31Open forest 25.037 7.966Plantation 1.305 0.415Undulating upland 20.380 6.484Degraded forest 5.562 1.769

Degraded plantation 1.687 0.537Gully/ravine area 1.145 0.364Wet land 36.987 11.769Tank and pond 8.550 2.720Reservoir 5.125 1.631River / stream 12.687 4.307TT oott aa ll 331144..228855 9999 ..997733



35

CHANGES IN THE LAND USE PATTERN DUE TO MINING ACTIVITY

The land use pattern has changed drastically during the last 5 years. The percentage of agricultural

land has been drastically reduced due to:

• Mining activity – deposition of overburden on agricultural land thus making it unsuitable for

cultivation,• Rapid soil erosion – removal of fertile topsoil

Similarly the presence of dense forests has been drastically reduced as a result of mining and its

associate activity. A patch of the Lapanga village forest has been cleared for construction of the road.

Similarly dumping of overburden near the village forest has reduced the area of open forest e.g. the

Khinda village forest.

The plantation land has been reduced to a very small area due to improper care taken by the

authorities. Similarly the agricultural land located near the overburden dumping site is no more fit for

the agricultural purpose since a thick layer of soil from the overburden and a fine layer of coal dust

deposits over the fertile top soil. Similarly water scarcity may be another reason for degradation of

agricultural land to barren land.

PLANTATION PROGRAMME BY THE MINING COMPANY MISSING

The mining authority in its compliance report to the State Pollution Control Board has mentioned that

a large patch of plantation programme has been undertaken by the mine authority around the mining

area. However, during our field study it was learnt that no plantation was undertaken by the plant

authority in this area. The area where the mine authority claims to have undertaken plantation is a

barren land with a large hoarding of INDAL (photograph enclosed). As this is an open cast mine, a

large amount of dust is generated during various processes and a green barrier should be present to

check and control the dust so generated. Instead, the plant authorities are carelessly clearing the

existing natural green forests such as the Khinda and Lapanga Gramya jungle (photograph enclosed).



36

FF LL OO RR AA AA NNDD FF AAUUNNAA SSTT UUDDYY

The mining area comprising of a small hill lock and is surrounded by plain area with sparse

vegetation. Survey was conducted in this area to assess the floristic composition in the core area

covering Borre Dungri and its immediate neighborhood and buffer zone all around Khinda block. The

soil and climate are ideally combine to give rise to dry deciduous low forest growth.

Flora found in the core zone

The hill locks Borre Dungri and its immediate neighborhood including the mechanical camp and

Mundapada and extending right up to Hirakud reservoir water extensions from the core zone. Much

of the tract is in the state of induced scrub because of constant biotic interference. There is a very

good forest growth located at Lapanga village foresty and the Khinda gramya jungle. Similarlyanother good forest growth was also located in Talabira village. Sorea robusta is the dominant

species found in this jungle. Similarly Tectona grandis showed high rate of IVI in this place. The

important floral species found in this core zone are belongs to the family such as Fabaceae, poaceae,

Euphorbiaceae, Asteraceae, Acanthaceae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, Anacardiaceae, Meliaceae .

Flora found in the buffer zone

The forest can be classified as tropical dry mixed deciduous type. In most of the locality the miningactivity has seriously damaged the forest. Some area has also good forest growth due to protection

from the villagers. In the buffer zone two conspicuous communities were seen, the 1 st one at

Nuakhinda and the 2 nd in the forest bordering Talabira block but within Khinda block.

While the tree layer is predominantly richer with sorea, other deciduous elements like Termionalia

tomentosa, T. bilirica, Cleistanthus patulus, Anogeissus latifolia, Holarrhena, pubescens etc occupy

the upper and lower canopies. The shrubby layer includes Cleistanthus collinus, Gardenia

gummiofera, Zizyphus oenoplea, Helicteres isora, Flemingia etc. The climbers are not found

abundantly but some species like Gymnema sylvestre, Tylophora indica, Dioscorea bulbifera etc

make the composition. Herbaceous growth is luxuriant in rainy season and grasses are usually found

in large number. The common are- Tridax procumbens, Evolvulus alsinoides, Andrographis indicus,

Eragrostis coaractata, Hedyotis affinis, Rungia pectinata, Phyllanthes fraternus, P. urinia etc.



37

Plantation

Discrete patches of tress species of forestry importance like eucalypatus and acacia have been

delineated as plantation in the area. The total area under this plantation is 1.305 sq km. however

plantation undertaken by the mine authority was no where found during the survey.

Study of fauna

A number of animals are found in the near by area of the mining site. This was revealed by

questioning the villagers during the survey time. Even during the study time an endangered species

Python was located in the forest of Khinda.

CHECKLIST OF FAUNA OF CORE AND BUFFER AREA

A Insects Various kinds spiders, butterflies, grasshoppers , mites and aphids

B Amphibians Bufo melanostictus, Rana tigrina

C Reptiles Water snakes, cobra, crates, lizards, python.

D Molluscs Edible snails and bivalves

E Birds

Indian pond heron, little egret, cattle egret, king vulture, red jungle fowl,

eagle owl, Indian koel, great pied hornbill, common moyna, black headed

bulbul, pady field warbler, Indian house sparrow, red munia, Indian spotted

munia, peafowl, and a number of migratory birds during winter season.

F MammalsSmall Indian civest, common mongoose neyul, jackel, Indian giant squirrel ,

Bandicoot rat, hyena, hare and occasionally elephant.

G Migratory birds

Great cressed grebe, little grebe, spotbilled , little cormorant, Indian shag,

darter, pond heron, grey heron, purple heron, night heron, egrets, painted

stork, white stork, black ibis, flamingo and kestrel

Regarding the floral composition of the water bodies of the area, includes part of Hirakud reservoir,

Ib River, and other water bodies, where aquatic flora and fauna of various types were noted. The

hirakud reservoir is some 0.2 KM in the south- eastern side of the, M.L area. A number of migratory

birds visits this area during the winter season.



38

Severe damage to vegetation due to dumping of mineoverburden

Dumping of overburden on Khinda Village Forest

Clearing of Lapanga Village forest for widening of road

Community Protected Lapanga Village Forest



39

Rehabilitation Colony at Khinda Village

This was once the plantation site of INDAL. Wherehave the plants vanished now?

Illegal construction of Intake well and an earthendike for supporting the water pipeline right in the

middle of the reservoir by M/s Bhusan Steel Ltd.

Water from this pond is supplied for drinking in

nearby villages by the company



40

IMPACT OF MINING ON THE ADJACENT FLORA

The Khinda village forest, which is very close to the mining site, is basically a dry deciduous forest.

There is another good forest (GPS location 210

44’22’’N 0830

59’ 32’’) found adjacent to the minesite, where the over burden of the mines are being dumped (photograph enclosed) . This forest

comes under the category of Village Forest and is being protected by the villagers since a long time.

Similarly some portion of the Lapanga village forest (10 ft wide and 2 KM long) has been cleared for

expansion of the existing road.

The impacts of the mining activity on the surrounding forest can be described as follows:

1. The overburden generated from the talabira coal mines is being dumped very close

to the Khinda village forest. This overburden contains huge boulder-sized rock coal

lumps, which when dumped scratches the bark and crushes the plants with which it

collides (photograph enclosed).

2. Similarly the overburden generated due to mining activity is being intentionally

dumped very close to the forest thus damaging the plant (photograph enclosed).

3. The dust generated from the mining activity, movement of trucks and other heavy

vehicle settles as a layer on the surface of leaf thus reducing the photosynthetic

efficiency. This finally results in chlorosis and spotting of leaves. Younger leavesare more susceptible.

4. Small herbs and medicinal plants are more affected due to mining. Some important

species of medicinal plants that were found in this area has been extinct since the

initiation of mining activity.

5. Nowadays, Mango and cashew Plants are not giving reasonable production because

during the flowering period, coal dust deposits over the flower surface and forms a

fine layer, thereby preventing fertilization. This area which was once famous for

various type of mangoes has a very marginal production of mangoes today.

6. The village pastureland where the cattle used to graze has already been degraded

due to continuous dumping of over burden.



41

IMPACT OF MINING ON THE FAUNA

Historically, the selected study area supported a good number of wild animals since a dense forest

was found in this area. Through interacting with the villagers it was found that various species of endangered animal like wolf, python, Jackal, were found in this forest. During our site visit a python

was also spotted near the Khinda School. This stretch of forest acts like a connecting link between the

Debrigarh wild life sanctuaries and the Badrama sanctuaries located at Kuchinda. This forest patch

also includes the elephant corridor. Several reserve forests like the Katikela reserver forest and the

Ghichimura reserve forest are located very close to this area.

A number of machinery is being deployed in these mines. Blasting occurs at regular intervals.

Similarly during night time the use of various lights, movement of heavy vehicles, etc causes a lot of disturbance in the movement of the animals. During summers, a lot of smoke arises from the mining

site containing sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and other noxious gases due to which a number of

species have fled from this area. Similarly a number of migratory species visit the Hirakud reservoir

(which is very adjacent to the mining site) during winters. But due to the heavily concentrated mine

discharge water, the migratory birds have been avoiding visits to this place.

Similarly during our interaction with the villagers it was found that a number of wild animals are

being poached by the peoples of this area. Due to rampant mining activities the forest cover has beenreduced thus it is very easy for the poachers to kill these animals. As there is scarcity of water in the

jungle, the animals come out of the forest in search of water near the mine site. During such time

some are hunted and others die due to accidents.



42

WW AA TT EE RR SSTT AATT UUSS II NN VVII LL LL AAGG EE SS NNEE AARR TT AALL AABBII RR AA CC OO AALL MM II NNEE SS

During our visit to the spot, we observed that the mine water is being directly released to the

Hirakud reservoir. The mining activity has adversely affected the surface water by increasing the

total suspended solids (TSS) resulting in a fine layer of coal dust over the water surface, which

has affected aquatic life as well as human health. Since no drinking water supply facility isavailable to the nearby villages, the villagers mostly depend upon bore wells and open air water

bodies. Inspite of filtering this water with fine cloth (Sari) folded 8 times, the water still remains

laden with suspended particulate matter. We have collected and brought water samples from

nearby areas for analysis.

DRINKING WATER PROBLEM

In all the villages surveyed, it was found that potable water is a major problem. Although a few

tubewells and handpumps are available in the villages, these become non-functional during driermonths due to the lowering of ground water table. Most of the times, the water from these sources

is not fit for consumption. For instance, in the tube wells found near the coal mines such as the

Rehabilitation colony, near the Khinda PHC, the water is not fit for drinking. Although the

company tanker provides water for drinking purpose to the near by villages, the water so supplied

was found to be drawn from a big pond located in Khinda village. The water is not before

supplying (photograph of the water pond which is being supplied to the villagers). The saddest

fact is that there is no awareness among the villagers about health and hygiene.

CODING OF WATER SAMPLES

Sample Code Place of Sample Collection

SW1 Rehabilitation Colony

SW2 Mine Water

SW3 Tanker Water (collected from nearby pond and supplied asdrinking water to the nearby villages)

SW4 Well Water from Khinda

SW5 Well Water from Lapanga



43

AAnn aallyyssiiss ooff PPhh yyssiioo‐‐CChh eemm iiccaall PPaarraamm eetteerrss ooff WWaatteerr

SlNo

PARAMETERS

SAMPLES S1 S2* S3 S4 S5 Desirable

Limit

1 Colour

Dirty Whitein colourand a red

precipitationoccurs on

exposure toair

BlackishBrown

LightYellow

YellowishBrown

LightYellow Clear

2 Odour Odour free Odourfree

Fishysmell

Odourfree

Odourfree Unobjectionable

3 pH at 25° C 5.8 4.7 6.72 6.07 6.72 6.5 to 8.5

4 Conductivity µS 779 1300 946 850 837 -5

Total Hardness (as

CaCo 3) mg/lit 280 90 50 190 90 300

6PhenolphthaleinAlkalinity mg/lit

0 0 0 0 0 -

7Total Alkalinitymg/lit

48 28 48 160 406 200

8Chloride (as Cl) mg/lit

319 340.37 140.4 186.5 188.9 250

9Nitrate (as NO 3)

mg/lit 18 21 36 9 12 45

10Nitrite (as NO 2) mg/lit

0 0 0 0 0 -

11Arsenic (as As)

mg/lit 0 0.0025 0 0 0 0.05

12 Iron (as Fe) mg/lit 1.0 1.5 < 0.3 0.3 < 0.3 0.3

13Fluoride (as F) mg/lit

0 0.5 0 0.5-1.0 0.5 1.5

14 Turbidity (NTU) 17** 73.5** 15.06** 13** 12.8** 5

15 Calcium (as Ca)

mg/lit 22.7 6.73 21.03 15.2 21.3 75

16 Cadmium(Cd)mg/lit 0.0013 0.007 0.0009 0.0009 0.0016 0.01

17 Hexavalent (Cr 6+)Chromium mg/lit Abs Abs Abs Abs Abs 0.05

18 Sulphate (as SO 42 –)

mg/lit 13.3 133.1 19.4 23.7 26.9 200

∗ Sample diluted to 10 times (1:10 ratio)∗ ∗ Beyond Permissible limits



44

Indian Standard Drinking Water –Specification (BIS 10500 : 1991)

SSLL..NN OO SSUUBBSSTTAANN CCEE OO RR CCHH AARRAACCTTEERRIISSTTIICC RREEQQ UUIIRREEMM EENN TT

((DD EESSIIRRAABBLLEE

LLIIMM IITT))

PPEERRMM IISSSSIIBBLLEE

LLIIMM IITT IINN TTHH EE

AABBSSEENN CCEE OO FF

AALLTTEERRNN AATTEE

SSOO UURRCCEE

ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS

1. Colour, ( Hazen units, Max ) 5 25

2. Odour Unobjectonable Unobjectionable

3. Taste Agreeable Agreeable

4. Turbidity ( NTU, Max) 5 10

5. pH Value 6.5 to 8.5 No Relaxsation

6. Total Hardness (as CaCo 3) mg/lit.,Max 300 600

7.

Iron

(as Fe)

mg/lit,Max

0.3

1.0

8. Chlorides (as Cl) mg/lit,Max. 250 1000

9. Residual,free chlorine,mg/lit,Min 0.2 ‐‐

DESIRABLE CHARACTERISTICS

10. Dissolved solids mg/lit,Max 500 2000

11. Calcium (as Ca) mg/lit,Max 75 200

12. Copper (as Cu) mg/lit,Max 0.05 1.5

13 Manganese (as Mn)mg/lit,Max 0.10 0.3

14 Sulfate (as SO4) mg/lit,Max 200 400 15 Nitrate (as NO 3) mg/lit,Max 45 100

16 Fluoride (as F) mg/lit,Max 1.9 1.5

17 Boron mg/lit,Max 1 5

18 Mercury (as Hg)mg/lit,Max 0.001 No relaxation

19 Cadmiun (as Cd)mg/lit,Max 0.01 No relaxation

20 Selenium (as Se)mg/lit,Max 0.01 No relaxation

21 Arsenic (as As) mg/lit,Max 0.05 No relaxation

22 Cyanide (as CN) mg/lit,Max 0.05 No relaxation

23

Lead (as

Pb)

mg/lit,Max

0.05

No

relaxation

24 Zinc (as Zn) mg/lit,Max 5 15

25 Anionic detergents (as MBAS) mg/lit,Max 0.2 1.0

26 Chromium (as Cr6+)mg/lit,Max 0.05 No relaxation

27 Mineral Oil mg/lit,Max 0.01 0.03

28 Pesticides mg/l, Max Absent 0.001

29 Alkalinity mg/lit.Max 200 600

30 Aluminium (as Al) mg/l,Max 0.03 0.2



45

DD EE DD UU CC TT II OO NNSS

Water samples were collected from 5 various locations (both core & buffer area of the coalmines) as per the sampling guidelines. These samples were analyzed at the laboratory of VASUNDHARA. The samples were sent to the laboratory of the state pollution control board

for analysis of heavy metals. The detailed analyses report of the water samples at differentlocations are given in the above table. On an average, the Physio-chemical analysis of watershows that most of the parameters are within the permissible limits/ range except a few. Theanomalies are described below:

pH Value

The pH value of all the water samples is acidic, especially the mine discharge water sample,which was found to be extremely acidic (pH value = 4.7 even after diluting to 10 times). Thismay possibly be due to the presence of high sulphur content of the coal, which leads to theformation of sulphuric acid, thereby lowering the pH of the water.

Conductivity

The conductivity is also found to be very high in case of mine water and is generally on ahigher side for other water samples.

Chlorine

The Physio-chemical analysis of water shows that chlorine content of the water sample fromthe rehabilitation colony is found to be above the permissible limit framed by BIS but for therest of the samples, chloride levels are normal.

Nitrate

From the analysis it was found that the nitrate content of the water (SW3) is found to be highalthough it does not exceed the permissible limit. During our field visit, we found a lot of

water hyacinth and aquatic weeds growing in this pond water and therefore, we may concludethat the increase in nitrate content of water samples could be due to the decomposition of aquatic weeds.

Iron

Similarly iron content was found in all the water samples and its content is found to be highin the water samples collected from rehabilitation colony.



46

Fluoride

From the analysis it was found out that the water content of the mine discharge and the water

from Khinda village has considerable fluoride content although its concentration is found to

be within the limit framed by BIS.

Turbidity

High levels of turbidity were expected even before conducting laboratory tests using thewater samples from this area. Whereas the permissible value is 5 NTU, the turbidity range of

water from this coal mining area varies from 70 to 78 NTU. Although local people are awareof this problem they do not use water filters nor do they practice sedimentation techniques

(like adding alum). The turbidity content is found to be very high in all the water samples and

especially in case of the samples collected from the mine waste. From the analysis it wasfound out that the turbidity of the mine waste water is 73.5 NTU, even after diluting the mine

water sample to ten times. As the mines waste water contains high suspended and dissolved

particles it is highly turbidity. The turbidity content of the drinking water collected from othersites is also found to be very high which is a matter of great concern. This can be accounted

for by the huge amount of coal dust and fine layer of dust that settles on the surface of water

due to coal mining in this area. The turbidity content of the water samples collected from thewells of Khinda and Lapanga was also found to be high. Similarly the turbidity content of the

water of the Rehabilitation colony is 3 times high than the prescribed limit. It can be

concluded that as the rehabilitation colony is found to located very close to the mine site(1kmdistance), so the ground water may be contaminated from the waste mine water.

Heavy Metals

From the analysis report it was found that cadmium is found in all the water samples although

the concentration was found to be very low. Although no heavy metals have been detected in

very high concentrations from the water samples, there is a strong possibility of concentrated

mine water containing lethal levels of toxic heavy metals. However, for simplifying the work,the mine water was diluted to 10 times before conducting analysis of physiochemical

parameters. Inspite of it, the levels obtained for most of the parameters were comparatively

high.

The water bodies in this area present an aesthetically poor image because a fine layer of black

coal dust is present over the water surface perpetually (throughout the year).



47

WW AATT EE RR SSCC AA RR CC II TT YY DD UU EE TT OO II NN DD UU SSTT RR II AA LL II ZZ AA TT II OO NN :: FF UU TT UU RR EE SSCC EE NN AA RR II OO

With rapid industrialization and urbanization, abundant natural resources like water tend to get

limited. For instance, Rengali block of Sambalpur district has been declared as a drought prone area

by the State Administration although this block is located very close to Hirakud reservoir.

From its date of commencement since 1960, the major objective of the multipurpose Hirakud dam

was to irrigate land in districts like Sambalpur, Bargada, Jjharsuguda, and in some coastal districts

followed by flood control , hydro-electricity generation followed by Aquaculture and navigation

purposes . However, presently the state government has signed MOUs with various industries to

supply 478.72 cusec of water every day. According to a report curently OPGC is drawing 12.36

cusecs of water, MCL Bandhabahal is drawing 3.71 cusecs of water, orient paper mill is drawing 1.84

cusecs of water, railway Jharsuguda is drawing 2.47 cusecs of water, Sambalpur PHD is drawing 7.46

cusecs of water, HINDALCO at hirakud is drawing 10 cusecs of water and Bhusan ltd is drawing 100

cusecs of water. Additionally, industries like IB Thermal Power (53 Cusecs), MFC Power Generation(2.45 Cusecs), Sterellite Opticals Technology (11.30 Cusecs), Aditya Alumina (52.73 Cusecs),

Shyam DRI (11 Cusecs) have been permitted to withdraw water from the reservoir. Industries like

SPS Sponge Iron ( 30 Cusecs), Arian Ispat(20 Cusecs), HINDALCO, Hirakud(25 Cusecs), Axin Ispat

Ltd (4.58 Cusecs), and Viraj Steel(10.80 cusecs) has applied for drawing water from the reservoir.

In the upstream of the reservoir, MCL IB valley is drawing 4.020, Lilari Open Project 0.083;

Lakhanpur open cast project 0.340, and Tata refractory, Belpahad is drawing 1.050 cusecs of water

while Agragamee Steel has been allowed to withdraw 4.23 cusecs of water. The Eastern & Power has

applied for withdrawing 10.30 cusecs amount of water from Hirakud reservoir. So the Government

has given clearance to withdraw a total of 478.72 cusecs of water for consumption by the above

mentioned industries.

The Main Project Report of Hirakud dam states that a total land area of 2,35,477 hectare (1,59,106

hectare of Kharif and 76,371 hectare of Rabi) would be irrigated by this project. But presently due to

heavy sediment deposition in the dam (27% of the height), the water retention capacity of this dam

has been marginally reduced. So at this crucial juncture, withdrawing 478.72 cusecs of water per day

will definitely put an adverse impact on the hydroelectricity generation and Irrigation capacity of thedam.

According to Hydrology Experts – 1 cusecs of water can irrigate about 100 acres of land –

withdrawal of 478 cusecs of water per day will deprive 47 thousand acre of land from being irrigated.

This clearly depicts the bleak future of farmers in this area, whose fields would be deprived of

irrigation water which will ultimately affect the livelihood of thousand of people in the state.



48

INFORMATION ON WITHDRAWL OF WATER FROM HIRAKUD RESERVOIR

Slno Name of the agency Product Location Requirement

of water (Cu) Source Status

1 M/S O.P.G.C Ltd,( Ibthermal power station) Electricity Banharpalli,

Jharsuguda 53 Hirakudreservoir.

Permissiongranted

2 M/S HINDALCO,hirakud Aluminum Hirakud 10 Sambalpur

distributary.Permission

granted

3 M/S Aditya aluminum Aluminum Lapanga,Jharsuguda 52.73 Hirakud

reservoirPermission

granted

4 M/S Bhusan ltd. Steel Lapanga,Jharsuguda

12 (at present)

100 (in future)

Hirakudreservoir

Permissiongranted

5 M/S Rathi steel &power project ltd. Steel Potapalli 10

Hirakudpower

channel

Awaited

6 M/S S.S.P.S spongeiron ltd

Spongeiron

Barmel,Jhaarsuguda

10 (1 st phase)

20 (2 nd phase)

Hirakudreservoir Awaited

7 M/S Sterllite pvt.Ltd Sterlite Jharsuguda 40-60 MGD Hirakudreservoir. Awaited

8M/S HINDALCO , 100

MW thermal powerplant.

Electricity Hirakud 10 Hirakudreservoir. Awaited



49

IMPACT ON LIVELIHOOD & SOCIO- ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

The region in and around Talabira – I has low population density and the people are mainlydependent on monsoon agriculture and a few cash crops. The agricultural land has low yield and thearea has poor infrastructures. Hence the people in general have low income and no other alternativesemployment opportunities. Consequently, facilities such as education, health, potable water, electricpower and commercial opportunities in the near by land are found to be inadequate.

The impact of mining on the social-economic environment can be summarized as follows:a) There is no provision for periodical health check ups or free distribution of medicines.b) No efforts are made to improve the literacy rate in the villages around the mines area.c) No guidance is provided to villagers for livelihood enhancement. Income generation through

training in tailoring, carpentry, animal husbandry, candle making, agarbati making etc can beprovided to enhance the skills of people but unfortunately no such measures are taken.

d) No programmes are organized to generate awareness on different types of diseases such as airborne disease, AIDS, family planning.

e) Engaging the local community in compensatory afforestation (in areas where coal deposits arenot found) has not been done. On the contrary, peoples are being discouraged fromundertaking compensatory afforestation in this area.

f) The villagers in Bansimal are mostly the fisherman. Due to discharge of mining effluents tothe Hirakud reservoir, fish production has reduced significantly. Villagers like Mangal Barti,Biramani Bag who had borrowed large sums of money from a nearby bank have sufferedimmensely due to a sharp decline in fish production and are unable to repay the loan amount.The fishing nets are of no use since the water levels in the reservoir has receded sharply(photograph of Mangal Barti with his unused net).

g) Even the NTFP gatherers are suffering immensely due to the adverse impact of mining on thequality and quantity of NTFPs.

PROJECT AFFECTED PEOPLE & REHABILITATION MEASURES TAKEN

A total of 144 families have been directly affected due to the commencement of the Talabira-1project. Out of them about 56 project displaced families (PDFs) have been awarded with cashcompensations of Rs.1 Lakh while for the rest of the 86 PDFs , M/S HINDALCO has issuedappointment orders to 72 people. The 11 people who were found unfit have been offered cashcompensation. However it was found that the company has completely ignored the local people whileproviding employment in its project.

The rehabilitation colony constructed by the company has no basic facilities at all. Till date thecomplete electrification of this colony has not been completed. There is no proper drinking waterfacility available in the colony premises. The single tube well found in the premises remains unusedsince the water is not fit for consumption. The water contains high concentration of iron therebymaking it unfit for consumption. The size of rooms in the rehabilitation colony was found to be verysmall and inadequate space has been provided for rearing cattle. (Photograph enclosed).



50

HH EE AALL TT HH SSUURR VVEE YY AARR OO UUNNDD TT HH EE CC OO AALL MM II NN II NNGG AARR EE AA

A detailed health survey was conducted during the field visit time. For this purposes data of number

of patient registration in the Khinda PHC was taken. The PHC doctor Mr D.K Panigrahi, also gave

some vital information regarding the health status of this area. A gloss over the PHC registration

diary reveals that respiratory disease like the Bronchitis, respiratory tract infection was commonly

found in this area. Similarly the other disease commonly found in this area is the dermatitis, malaria,

gastro- intestinal problem, eye allergy and arthritis. The doctor is in the view that due to high dust

content, sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide and monoxide content in the air, the peoples are more prone

to ART(I) - Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infections (acute respiratory infection) in this area.

Similarly due to unhygienic conditions in the village, lack of awareness among the villagers about the

water borne diseases, drinking of pond water in summer days is the main reason for gastro- intestinal

problem. Similarly large pits formed due to the mining activity and the breeding of mosquito in it dueto submergence of water is the main reason for malaria problem in this area.

MAJOR TYPE OF DISEASE PREVALENT IN THIS AREA

Disease found related to pollution (data found from the Primary

Healthcare Centre register)Month

Total number

of patient

registered. Eye

allergy

Skin

disease

ARI Malaria Gastro-intestinal

disease

Arthritis

August,2005 875 12 22 74 94 12 6

November,2005 577 7 35 75 34 17 8

December,2005 428 8 21 65 32 16 12

January,2006 460 9 20 56 45 19 4

ART(I)- Acute upper respiratory tract infections (asthma, allergy like sneezing, cough, bronchitis)



51

Health Status around Talabira Coal Mines,Sambalpur

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

A c u

t e

R e s p

i r a t o r y

T r a c

t

I n f e c

t i o n s

M a

l a r i a

S k i n

I n f e c

t i o n s

I n t e s

t i n a

l

D i s o r d e r s

A r t h r i t i s

&

J o

i n t P a

i n s

E y e

D i s e a s e s

T o

t a l A f f e c

t e d P o p u

l a t i o n



52

IMPACTS OF MINING ON WOMEN

Health Impacts

Majority of the health problems in mining regions are caused due to unchecked pollution and highlevels of toxicity, mine tailings and mine disasters. Even women and children who are not working in

the mines are constantly exposed to various respiratory illnesses due to inhalation of dust particlesand become victims of skin diseases, experience malfunctioning of various sensory organs, which hasa long-term impact on their reproductive health. When compared to the past, during the last 1 decade,there have been increased instances of premature births, still births, birth defects, and numerous casesof premature termination of pregnancies due to severe complications during the first and secondtrimesters which even resulted in the death of 2 women in Khinda and Lapanga Villages. Suchcomplications were unheard of in the past and the elder women in these areas attribute thedeterioration in their reproductive health to their unhygienic and stressful living conditions.

Noise and dust pollution affects women the most during pregnancy. For economic reasons, they haveno choice but to expose themselves and their children to severe health risks, which not only threatenstheir lives, but also that of the unborn child. For example, the most common diseases suffered bypeople due to the dust from the coal mines are tuberculosis, cough and cold, malaria, skin diseases,diarrhoea, staining of teeth, joints pain, arthritis, lethargy, etc. Even young adults and kids have beenreported to be suffering from respiratory disorders.

In our research on the Health Impact Assessment due to coal mining in Talabira Coal Mines of Orissa, it has been found that fluoride, Cadmium and sulphate are high in concentration in drinkingwater. Even the pH levels are dangerously low. Iron concentrations were found to be very high in

surface water of these areas.

The longevity of the communities living in villages close to the coal mines has reduced drastically.The average longevity of women was found to be 45 and in most of the villages only one or twowomen had crossed the age of 60! The children are reported to be lethargic as a result of inhalation of toxic dust and consumption of contaminated water.

Water Problem

Communities surrounding mine-sites are forced to consume the contaminated drinking water from

sources like rivers, streams, wells and bore pumps due to complete absence of treated water supplies.As a result, they end up consuming loads of untreated chemical wastes and debris of the miningcompanies which seep into the ground water and soil.

Women in particular are more susceptible to water pollution due to the role they play in the family,which involves contact with water sources for performing the household chores like collecting water,washing clothes, utensils and bathing children.



53

The depletion of ground water due to over consumption for mining purposes brings serious changesin the water table thereby severely affecting the drinking water facilities of the communities. Eventhe ground water cannot be used for human consumption any longer and some of the villages are now‘voluntarily’ relocating and migrating.

Villagers face acute scarcity of water mainly in summer and in winter season. Dug wells generally

get dried up in these two seasons. Natural drainage system is obstructed and diverted due to dumpingof overburden and expansion of opencast mines

The company supplies drinking water by trucks to the local communities. This dependence on thecompany trucks for water leads to a situation where the communities have to constantly fight with themanagement for regular and adequate supply of water creating a situation of conflict. Women andchildren spend a large part of their time and energies waiting in queues for water and which alsoresults in reduction in water consumption by the women due to rationing of water supplies. Villagershave no alternative but to drink the tanker water which is collected from the nearby pond andsupplied by tankers to various villages as drinking water. However, people often complain of foulness in its taste, colour and complain that the water is often contaminated with filth.

The women are thus forced to lead unhygienic lives by not bathing daily, not washing clothesregularly and not drinking water adequately. Our study revealed that due to water contamination thevillagers avoid taking bath everyday, and that there is a gap of 5 to 10 days. Clothes are kept uncleanand washed infrequently. Children are the most affected due to living in such unhygienic conditionsand filth. The water scourge also leads to social ill-health as tensions build up among the womenevery day while collecting the meager and uncertain supply of water in the slums and shanty towns of the mine-sites.

Blasting and Mine Accidents

Communities living around the mine sites are constantly vulnerable to mining accidents. Miningcompanies use explosives for blasting which result in houses cracking and collapsing on women andchildren or when companies do not warn them of explosions while they are working in the fields orwalking in their villages, thereby either killing or deforming them. Similarly, companies leave behindlarge mine pits around the houses and agricultural fields, which gradually get filled withcontaminated water and debris and result in children and women (and even most often, livestock)accidentally falling into them and drowning or getting fatally injured. Companies rarely have taken

responsibility for such accidents nor paid up for the losses or treatment. Especially when women getinjured or disabled it is becomes most difficult to eke out a living or look after the children when themen are away in the mine-pits.

Deterioration in Health Status due to Loss of Livelihoods and Access to Natural Resources:

A comparative study of pre-mining and post mining communities in this region shows a clear shift in

livelihoods and way of life particularly for women in the affected communities. Displacement from



54

land and loss of access to forests has a direct impact on the health and nutrition of women and

children. In traditional land and forest-based form of livelihood, the communities had access to a

wide variety of agricultural and forest.

The diversity of crops grown by these communities are a means of ensuring balanced nutrition which

is supplemented by the variety of forest species like tubers, roots, leaves, fruits and nuts collected bythe women and children. Since access to food is not dependent on cash flow as against the need to

purchase even basic food items in a non- agriculture and forest based economy like mining, women

have better access to food security in traditional systems.

In mining situations, women are completely thrown out of their economic roles and as they are forced

to depend mainly on the wages of the men, they have lesser cash flow and lesser participation in

decision-making on food and household expenditures. On the face of it, mining towns look affluent

as even the poor purchase assets like radios, television sets, furniture, clothes and other commodities.

A greater part of the incomes are also spent away by the men on vices like alcohol, gambling andsexual exploits. Studies have proved that there is lesser expenditure on basic food items as money is

frittered away by the men on wasteful commodities. The obvious victims are women in the families

who sacrifice their food and medical needs for making both ends meet from within the wages spared

by the men.

The forest cover degenerates gradually in all mining regions due to pressure from mining operations

and from new populations settling down in the fringes. Among forest dwelling communities,

women’s main source of cash is the forest wealth, which they collect and sell in the village markets.

After selling the produce, the women purchase food and other household items from the market and

are in a position to save in seasons when the forest produce is collected in abundance. It is from this

income that they meet their medical expenses, purchase clothes for themselves and their children and

invest in agricultural needs.

Thus, the loss of traditional rights over land and forests has contributed to the deterioration of

women’s health status. The only access to health care for women- the forest rich in medicinal plants

becomes inaccessible leaving them without this important natural source. Further the mining

activities have introduced a number of previously unheard of diseases among the tribals, which

makes their traditional health remedies ineffective.

Since medical services and medicines have to be purchased (if available), women neglect their

illnesses, as they never have the cash. The mining companies provide hospitals but these are mainly

for the employees and management staff of the project. These facilities are most often, not for those

communities living around the project and not even for the contract labour employed in the mines. In

certain cases, there is no access even to a Primary Health Care Centre.



55

CC RR II TT II CC AA LL II SSSSUUEE SS

• While none of the existing legislations have ever provided justice to communities suffering

from health problems due to mining, there are no laws which specifically protect the rights of

women’s health in mining, either as communities or as workers.

• Occupational health issues of women mine workers needs to be addressed urgently. No proper

medical records are maintained, no health check-ups are conducted either by the companies or

governments. Moreover, occupational illnesses are suppressed and workers are promptly

retrenched when health problems are detected.

• Women are forced to work in mine-sites where certain minerals have been banned as they

have been proved to be too hazardous for human exposure.

• If women are working mainly in the small scale mines, government has to look into the laws,

technology and management accountability towards women miners’ health. The question hereis, does technology have the answers?

• A non agriculture based system alienates women from the food security, rights over natural

resources and leads to deterioration of their health status how do governments, policy makers

and civil society groups define and implement development and human growth vis-à-vis

economic programmes from a gender perspective, especially in the area of health.

• While health issues like AIDS are causing great concern as the most widespread future threat

and large allocations from governments and external grants/loans are concentrated in AIDSeradication, there is a corresponding increase in opening up more areas for mining which has

a direct relationship to the growth of AIDS. There is no adequate information or medical

check up for identifying and controlling the spread of AIDS in mining regions when the

global mining industry itself has admitted that 30-40 percent of all mining towns in the world

have AIDS.

• Women and children are constantly exposed to high risks of death and terminal illnesses due

to constant exposure to dust and pollution. Studies have proved that their exposure to various

hazardous pollutants has been far above permissible levels. Yet no companies have ever been

held legally responsible for such mass abuse of these vulnerable groups.

• What monitoring mechanisms can government set up in order to ensure better health and

safety of women and children in mining regions and therefore, how viable are most of the

mining industries from a health perspective? And how do we make companies accountable to

workers, communities and to civil society?



56

Some Important Facts about Coal Industry in India

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

India is the third largest producer of coal in the world.

Mining in India was started in 1774 in Ranigunj Coalfield (RCF)in West Bengal.

It was started in Jharia Coalfield (JCF) in the last decade of the19th century.

Coal is one of the primary sources of energy, accounting forabout 67% of the total energy consumption in the country.

India has some of the largest reserves of coal in the world.

Indian coal has high ash content (15-45%)and low calorificvalue.

With the present rate of around 0.8Mt average daily coalextraction in the country, the reserves are likely to last over a100 years.

The energy derived from coal in India is about twice that ofenergy derived from oil, as against the world, where energyderived from coal is about 30% lower than energy derived fromoil.



57

CC OO NN CC LL UU SSII OO NN

Taking a glance on the social and environmental status of the coalfield it can be noticed that neitherthe quality of life in the coalfield nor the environmental status is any where near the desired status.With such a high level of economic activities taking place in the coalfield one would have expectedthe overall quality of life of the area to be at par with other areas having a similar level of theeconomic activities. The social and economic benefits of the high level of the economic activities arenot being derived in the coalfield and the surrounding areas. Some of the striking features are asgiven below.

1. Societal status:

The population density of the coalfield is very high (about 2,000 people/sq km) compared tothe national population density (about 330 people/sq km).

Majority of the villages, settlements, townships, etc. do not have proper facilities for achieving a fair quality of life for such a level of economic activities.

Majority of the villages, settlements, townships, etc. are either threatened by the collapse of underground workings, subsidences, mine fires, or other mining/non-mining related dangers .

There is water scarcity in general in the coalfield area specially in the summer months.

Proper sanitation facilities are not available to majority of the population in the coalfield.

But for a few major roads most of the feeder roads in the coalfield area do not present propersurface for easy travel. Road conditions seems to be improving in the recent years.

One can find people living on or very close to the fire and subsided areas .

Although there are legal provisions for restricted constructional activities over the coalbearing areas a large number of constructions have come up in the last three-four decades inthe government, corporate as well as private sector.

One may find many illegal constructions in the coalfield area.

There is hardly any techno-socio-political will in the coalfield areas for improving the qualityof life of the people living in the coalfield. The society cries only when some mishap takesplace due to subsidence, fires or any other mining/non-mining causes, which subsides in duecourse of time.

There is hardly any regard to cleanliness in a majority of the settlements as one can findheaps of municipal and other waste littering here and there.

2. Environmental status :

The overall environmental quality of the coalfield and the surrounding area can by no meansbe considered to be satisfactory for the population residing in the coalfield and its buffer zone.

There seems to be a little regard to land use planning and land development . The landdamaged due to mining and other human activities has seldom been reclaimed.



58

Although large scale plantation was done in the coalfield and its surroundings in the last

two decades the overall ecological status of the coalfield is far from satisfactory.

Whatever little agricultural activity left in the coalfield does not have proper irrigation

support. The coalfield and its surrounding area imports consumables for the use of the

population from the adjoining and other districts. There seems to be no concerted effort

to develop such ventures in the area. The surface drainage pattern in the coalfield and its surrounding area has undergone a

major change due to mining and other human activities. For most of the area the recent

accurate surface contours are not available.

Mining and other social and industrial activities in the coalfield produce a huge quantity

of solid wastes of different characteristics. There seems to be practically no solid waste

management system in the area, which is resulting is the various problems. An

experiment of using fly ash from a thermal power plant is being done for backfilling a

old open pit. Similarly flyash from a fluidized bed thermal power plant is being used forreshaping the surface to improve surface topography.

Although there are a number of water treatment plants in the coalfield to treat mine and

other water the total quantity of the potable water available in the coalfield is not

adequate for the population. A large percentage of the population still depends on the

non-conventional sources of water. Due to mining in a large area the water table and

aquifers up to a depth of 100 m and even more have been damaged. There is practically

no plan to develop surface and underground water bodies for augmenting water

resources. The status of air quality in the coalfield and the surrounding area can be judged by the

people moving in the coalfield by the extent to which their shirt's collar gets black/dirty

in a day's work.

The above overview of coalfield calls for an in-depth study of the societal and environmental

development of the coalfield and the surrounding areas in the decades to come. The coalfield requires

immediate attention if the mining and associated activities in and around the coalfield are to be

sustained on a long term basis because if the present situation is allowed to continue, it will bring a

marked decline in the mining and associated activities and in about 30 years time the area may

become deserted. The overall environment in the coalfield in terms of air quality, water quality, water

availability and land quality will further degrade and thus will cause not only inconvenience to the

people but would also cause health problems.



RR EE FF EE RR EE NNCC EE SS

Reports

Report from Indian School of Mines

Report from Central Pollution Control Board

Internet Sites

Mineral Wastes http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/other/mining/index.htm

Environmental impacts http://www.save.org.za/

Publications http://www.worldwatch.org/pubs/pdf/

Coal links http://www.coal.nic.in/ Causes of poverty http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Poverty.asp

Development and poverty http://www.sum.uio.no/

Wikipedia coal mining http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_mining

National centre for ecological assessment http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/

ecological socio economic and health impacts assessment due to coal mining a case study of talabi

Documents