By Erwin K. Syiem Sutnga
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) passed its first order to impose the blanket ban on coal mining in Meghalaya on 17th April, 2014, starting with Jaintia Hills and then extending the ban to the whole state. The said ban was suddenly imposed without notice to the stakeholders, thereby directly affecting the lives and livelihood opportunity of nearly 10 lakh people and indirectly countless others which include industrial concerns, labour forces, drivers and traders even big and small business ventures within and outside the state. Even the Indian Railways have acknowledged a loss of Rs. 50 crore per month in the first few months of the ban. What added insult to injury was the mafia aspersion cast on the coal sector. Our system of traditional mining was contemptuously labelled as “rat hole mining”. In fact there is no such terminology in the mining nomenclature. The coal mining industry was labeled as being controlled by the “coal mafia” by the NGT without one criminal case being registered for racketeering or orchestrating organised crime syndicates in the coal areas of the state.
Mafia is defined as an organised crime syndicate that practices protection racketeering – the use of violence and intimidation to manipulate localised economic activity, especially illicit trade; secondary activities may be practiced such as drug-trafficking, loan sharking and fraud. These are all unsubstantiated allegations made by the Dimasa Students’ Union who had filed the case with the NGT even while the biggest pollution of the Kopili is being committed in the Dimasa area known as “Assam Quarry” and which is continuing. The vindictive consequences of the NGT ban are however being faced by the coal sector in Meghalaya. What happened with the Timber Ban of 1996 is reflected in the scenario of the coal ban today, People are being forced into a situation where desperation will turn illegality into an institution. The situation in the mining sector is an example of the operation of two economic laws- the first is the law of unintended consequences relating to the impact on the environment and the ecology and in relation to the Blanket ban of the NGT, the operation of Murphy’s Law, that if anything can go bad, then it will.
The Mining system in the state is unique in itself because of the way the tectonic formation has evolved. Coal in Meghalaya can be found all along the southern districts of the state. Meghalaya coal contains 5.84% of moisture, 35.16% of volatile matter, 2.2-7.4 % of sulphur, 8.6% of ash, and 50.40% of fixed carbon in general and is sub -bituminous in nature. It can be used for heat and power generation, in the production of iron, steel, coke and gas, cement industry, oil can be extracted as well as chemicals like phenol. The coal deposits of Meghalaya have evolved 66 to 2.5 million years ago during the Mesozoic- Tertiary period at the height of the deposit of sediments and the belt is spread over a narrow area in the southern side of the state. The coal is found interlaced with limestone and sandstone bands and the characteristic of this coal called Tertiary coal is that the deposits and seams have a pinching nature where the seams of deposits invariably disappear and appear in other places. The nature of the deposits themselves have given rise to the present system of mining which in many cases are a variation of the room and pillar system of mining. Any other method of mining especially as envisaged in the Mines and Mineral (Development and regulation) Act,1957 (as amended) will prove to be economically and commercially unviable.
` The operation of the law of unintended consequences has resulted in the situation relating to the environment and the ecology in the mining areas. Unintended consequences can be roughly grouped into three types: 1. A positive, unexpected benefit such as luck, serendipity or a windfall). 2. A negative and unexpected detrimental situation arising in addition to the desired effect of any activity (e.g. like the present negative effect of mining on the environment) 3. A perverse effect contrary to what was originally intended (when an intended solution makes a problem worse). This is also called the ‘cobra effect’, after the consequences of a bounty for killing cobras in British India encouraged people to breed cobras. In the case of the mineral rich areas of the state of Meghalaya it would be unfair to accuse people involved in the mining sector of deliberately trying to destroy the environment but it is more of an unintended consequence which has had negative impact due to ignorance and absence of support and regulatory norms which could have prevented any adverse affect on the environment.
In my discussion with experts on the subject, it was accepted that the damage as it stands today can still be repaired and the environment can be restored. It was one of the wonders of nature that the solution is present in the environment and ecology itself through the use of limestone powder to clean the rivers and water sources which are polluted. In fact I have been told that the Directorate of Mineral Resources, Meghalaya has already started implementing an action plan to clean up the coal areas and to control Acid Mine Discharge (AMD) in the coal areas by the simple procedure of testing the water in the lotic environment as well as evolving a plan to treat water in the lentic environment. Water pollution arises in both the lotic and lentic environment due to AMD but what it is more vindictive is the oxidisation of pyrites in the coal depots which are at the mercy of the sun and rain which produces acid pollution on a wider scale coupled with the fact that in most areas of the state, the soil is naturally acidic. The PH value of water in polluted areas is between 2.5 to 3 which is an ideal breeding ground for the acid producing bacteria. The lotic environment consists of all running water in streams rivulets and rivers while the lentic environment relates to ponds, lakes and marshes. Application of lime treatment as well as periodic monitoring of the PH balance to maintain it between 4 to 7 is necessary and will involve the participation of the community right at the household level.
In order to restore the environment it is necessary that people are made aware of the necessity to create and maintain a healthy relationship between the people and the environment especially in the coal mining areas. This is also true of all activities as well as the only way to control urban pollution like the serious situation relating to the Wah Umkhrah. Against this backdrop the State Government and its agencies have a very important role to play by way of creating awareness, providing technical support and monitoring systems. At the same time it is not only the State Government that has to shoulder the responsibility. The Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) are also to be involved since under Para 3(c) and Para 6 of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India the canals over water courses for the purpose of agriculture as well as water ways and fisheries in their respective Districts have been entrusted to the ADCs.
Expert opinion on our mining system of coal have stated that there is no other commercially viable system other than the existing system. What is needed is to streamline the system so that it becomes scientific with regards to the environment and health of the population in coal mining areas, provision for safety measures of miners and labourers, enforcement of child labour laws and constant monitoring of the pollution control systems initiated.