By H. H. Mohrmen
Are any of these names familiar? Borkhat, Natbor, Kwator, Dem Lakang, Pdeng Wah Khynriam, Kharkhana, Pasadwar, Lumpyngngad, Kamsing, Jalia Khala, Sangkhat and Tongseng, Sakhri, Sunappyrdi, Shymplong, Lejri, Bosara, Kuliang? If the answer to the question is negative, there is no need to worry for the readers of this paper are not the only ones who have not heard of these villages. But if the question is – “Are you familiar with names like Khliehriat, Ladrymbai, Rymbai, Sutnga, Wapung Lumchnong, Narpuh and even Mynthning and Semmasi, I am sure the answer will be a resounding yes! The first list contains the names of some of the villages downstream of the river Myntdu and Lukha – two of the three dead rivers of Jaintia Hills, and the next list needs no further explanation because the names regularly figure in the press especially in the aftermath of the NGT ban.
It was based on the complaint of two organizations from Dima Hasao who live downstream of the river Kupli, that the National Green Tribunal ordered a complete ban of rat-hole mining and the immediate halt to transportation of coal from Meghalaya.
People who are involved in the coal mining business question how the Dimasas who are not even inhabitants of the state of Meghalaya have the gumption to file a complaint against mining activities in the Jaintia hills? Coal mine owners even went to the extent of questioning the locus standi of the complaint because the Dimasas live far away from the mining areas.
But if one really wants answer to these questions one does not have to travel too far. If we travel to some of the villages downstream of these rivers and talk to the people in the area we will have ample evidence of how AMD from coal mining areas has affected the lives of the people in the villages downstream.
For so long the villages which are precariously located on steep hills and very close to the rivers earn their livelihood from betel nuts and betel (pan) leaf plantation and fishing. But for people downstream of Lukha, their worst nightmare began in February 2007 when the river turned blue and killed every living being in the water. And the people downstream of the river Myntdu still remember with great sorrow the summer of 1984 when the water from uphill laced with poison killed hundreds and thousands of fishes of all shapes and sizes. The incident did not attract media attention because the villages were inaccessible then, but since then life has never been the same for the people who live in these areas.
If one visits the area one can even see the telltale signs of the AMD on the banks of these rivers as the rocks, sands and pebbles on the entire stretch of the rivers has a rusty colour. Even if one takes a handful of sand from the river one can see tiny coal particles mixed with sand when one opens one’s palm. Pollution of the river is due to coal mining and evidences that can be seen even to naked eyes are all over the place.
The people in these villages used to have a very close relationship with the rivers; they fish, they bathe, and wash in the rivers and they know all the fishes by their names. For them Myntdu, Lukha and Kupli are not just rivers, they are part of their lives but that’s all gone now. They have not only lost their livelihoods to mining; in the process part of their culture also gradually faded away with the dead rivers.
And yet the chief minister still hopes to convince the NGT to lift the ban by promising to plant more trees in the mining areas! This is but a case of missing the woods for the trees. The problem is with the pollution of rivers and the government should instead come up with strategies on how it plans to reclaim the dead rivers particularly Kupli. Of course planting trees (endemic to the area) is good but what will the government do with the mines that directly discharge AMD to the rivers? What will the government do with mines which operate on the river banks? How does the government propose to deal with abandoned mines which continue to openly discharge AMD? This column has flagged these issues many times including the fact that it is preposterous that the government doesn’t even have the statistics of mines in the state but the government chose to ignore these vital issues.
The Shillong MP was quoted by the media saying that rat-hole mining is less harmful to the environment, but the question is what about the threat of land collapse when you have network of rat-holes criss-crossing the entire coal mining areas? There were reports of land caving in at Sohkymphor market, at the Rymbai PHC, and a section of the NH 44. These are signs of what will happen if (God forbid) an earthquake of a significant magnitude hits the state. But the most important question is can the government guarantee that underground water in the area is not polluted?
It was in 2007 that this writer had raised the issue of river pollution in Jaintia hills and called the District the land of the dead rivers. But we still have leaders like the CEM of the KHADC who is not convinced that coal mining has indeed polluted the rivers. If Ardent Basaiawmoit would only visit the coal mine areas and see with his own eyes the damage that has been done to the water bodies (that is if he does not belong to the “see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil group.),” he would perhaps change his stance vis-à-vis mining. In fact all that the CEM needs to do is to call for the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board report 2007-2008 on Lukha if he really wants to educate himself on the issue and there are evidences with NEEPCO on the pollution of Kupli if he is not convinced by the MSPCB report. There are also many studies and PhD thesis on the issue to help him learn more about the negative impacts of coal mining. Rat-hole mining of coal has also attracted international media from Al- Jazeera to NBC and international print media from New York Times to Christian Monitor have done stories on mining in Jaintia hills. All one needs to do is surf the internet. But may be his concern is for the people under the jurisdiction of the Khasi Hills District Council only, but even if he is only concerned about the area under the KHADC, the truth is if coal mining in Jaintia can cause so much damage, what is the guarantee that the same will not repeat in the coal mining areas under the KHADC? I hope Basaiawmoit would not like to leave a legacy that the future generation will say that he had the opportunity to right the wrong, but chose not to do it.
The claim that lakhs of people will be rendered jobless is also questionable. In many cases the exaggerated numbers even include all of us in the list of those who would lose their jobs because the number quoted was more than the population of Meghalaya. May I remind our esteemed readers that when the government decided to introduce the red buses in Shillong there was hue and cry that taxis and private buses would lose their businesses, but nothing happened even when the Meghalaya Urban Development Agency (MUDA) added the maxi cabs to the fleet of buses. MUDA buses and maxi cabs have instead helped discipline the taxi drivers. It is not unusual that in circumstances like this people would have all kinds of concerns and fears, but this will also pass one day.
The point is we only talk about the livelihoods of those involved in coal business but forget that there are those who have lost their livelihoods to mining without benefiting from it. They are too poor and not educated enough even to make complaints so their problems seldom appear in the media. They live in the remotest areas of the district hence there is nobody to tell their stories. They silently accept their misfortune as if it was God given. Coal mine owners should learn from the people living downstream of the polluted rivers. At one point of time their world too was shattered, but they picked up the pieces again and went on with their lives in spite of living in the rough terrains.