Recovery from Coal Mining in Meghalaya’s Moolamylliang | 07 Dec 2020

Why in News

Moolamylliang, a village in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district, is making progress in becoming a greener place amid abandoned pits from the rat-hole mining.

Key Points

• Background:
  
  • The Jaintia Coal Miners and Dealers’ Association claims there are around 60,000 coal mines across 360 villages in East Jaintia Hills district.
  • Moolamylliang used to be one such village until the National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned hazardous rat-hole coal mining in Meghalaya in April 2014 and set a time limit for transporting the coal already mined till that time.
  • Though the NGT ban did not stop illegal mining in the district, it helped Moolamylliang reform.
• Coal Mining in Northeast:
  
  • In the northeast, coal mining is part of a larger trend which is the decimation of natural resources.
    
    • For example, there is large-scale deforestation going on in the Garo and Khasi Hills of Meghalaya, besides limestone mining in the Jaintia Hills.
    • Assam, which has lost most of its once extensive forest cover, sees poaching in the Dima Hasao region, coal mining in Upper Assam, and sand/stone mining from river beds.
  • There are three notable peculiarities of coal mining in the Jaintia Hills (and elsewhere in Meghalaya).
    
    • Being a tribal state where the 6^th Schedule applies, all land is privately owned, and hence coal mining is done by private parties. The schedule does not explicitly refer to mining.
    • The sizable coal deposits in the state, mostly in the Jaintia Hills, occur in horizontal seams only a few feet high that run through the hills which is why rat-hole mining is practised instead of open cast mining.
    • Most of the labour (including children) comes from Nepal, the poorer areas of Assam, and Bangladesh. In Meghalaya, the non-tribal is a second-class citizen, as is the poor tribal, which explains the general lack of concern even within the State about the trapped miners.
  • Rat-hole Mining:
    
    • It is a term used for a hazardous and arduous mining technique where miners crawl into winding underground tunnels that are just 4-5 feet in diameter to extract coal from the deep seams with a pickaxe.
  • Open Cast Mining:
    
    • It is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth by their removal from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow.
• Concerns:
  
  • Ecological Issues: Unsustainable mining in hilly areas contaminates the farmlands and turns the streams acidic, leading to the loss of biodiversity and local heritage.
  • Health Issues: The prevalence of mining in an area causes various diseases like fibrosis, pneumoconiosis and silicosis in workers as well as locals.
  • Child Labour and Trafficking: Majority of the workers involved in 'rat-hole' mining are children. They are suited for this job because of their small anatomy that fits small mine tunnels. Rat-hole mining has encouraged child trafficking apart from engaging with immigrants from many states.
  • Corruption: Police officials often collaborate with mine owners in states where the open cast mining and rat hole mining are the norms.
• Measures:
  
  • The administration tried to make coke factories and cement plants in the vicinity contribute to earth rejuvenation programmes in the area under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
  • Among the projects being pursued is low-cost rainwater harvesting for recharging the area that has become dry because of coal mining.
  • Making Moolamylliang a base camp for tourists to explore caves, canyons and waterfalls in parts of East Jaintia Hills that have escaped the impact of mining, will boost tourism and bring in revenue.
  • Since the 6^th Schedule does not explicitly refer to mining, environmental activists are calling for the coal trade to come under central mining and environmental laws.

Source: TH