Indian authorities "allow" illegal mining on payment of a pittance fine, refuse protection to affected communities

A recent estimate by the mines, minerals & People (mm&P), a national alliance of mining affected communities, has said that every year around 80,000-90,000 cases of illegal mining are reported by governments across India. While the MB Shah commission, which investigated into their operations, assessed that they cost a whopping Rs 60,000 crore to state coffers, the fine realized from them per year is just a pittance, about Rs 11 crore.
This was revealed at a workshop organized by the mm&P in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, followed by another in Aasansol, West Bengal, early this month. Participants at the two workshops predicted, things are likely to get worse with the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act, 1957, amended in March 2015.
The amended Act would not make things any better for the local communities, an mm&P note on the two workshops said. The new Act mining by auctioning mines for a period of 50 years. Further, new mining leases would also be given for 50 years, instead of the 20-year period till now. This, according to mm&P, would mean nothing but a “huge loss” of natural resources on which local communities depend.
The impact of this could be seen in Odisha’s eight tribal districts, which have more than 50 per cent tribal population, and another six districts having tribal population between 30 and 50 per cent, the mm&P said. There is complete lack of protection to forests, and the locals are feeling their livelihood options being taken away.
No doubt, it was suggested, a new section, 9b, has been added in the amended Act. It requires every mining affected district to form a District Mineral Foundation (DMF), which is supposed to receive some royalty from mining. Thus, while leases operational before January 12, 2015 would contribute 30 per cent equivalent of royalty and leases issued after January 12, 2015 would contribute 10 per cent equivalent of royalty to the DMF.
Meanwhile, the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojna (PMKKKY), passed in September 2015, has laid down guidelines for work to be undertaken by DMFs. However, all this does not ensure the mining affected communities to regain control over the natural resources surrounding them.
The workshops discussed the examples of the coalmining area of Raniganj, West Bengal, which has been declared a “critically polluted” area by the Central Pollution Control Board. At both the places, local people have faced massive displacement.
In Raniganj, the government floated a Rs 2,160 crore master plan for resettlement and rehabilitation for providing relief to the affected communities. Yet, six years later, work for it has not begun. Demanding its early implementation, participants at the workshops insisted that the government must also think of safeguarding the rights of the local people while allowing mining.
Meanwhile, illegal mining continues at several places, such as in Birbhum district, whose operations have been challenged in the Eastern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Kolkata. Giving example of how illegal mining has affected state revenues, the workshops were told, the Government of West Bengal’s annual coal cess in 2012-13 was Rs 1,380 crore, “but it is nothing close to the value of minerals extracted.”
The workshops demanded that illegal mining should be eliminated completely to safeguard environmental and economic losses. Government is custodian of mineral resources and it is its duty to protect the rights of future generations and it should not tolerate any loss or wish away resources for meagre royalty in comparison to the value of resources.
Among those who participated in the two workshops included Ashok Shrimali, secretary general, mm&P; Ravi Rebbapragda, chairperson of mm&P; members of the executive committee of the mm&P; Shiekh Hakim, General Secretary, Integrated Coal Mines Ltd Shramik Union (ICMLSU); Rup Kumar Sadhu, President, ICMLSU; apart from other senior activists.

Comments

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.

Search This Blog