Meghalaya is a state that lacks robust data on many crucial areas of human development. Hence when individuals claim that the ban on coal mining has adversely affected several families, that claim has to be backed by solid data. It’s important to know how many families are directly and indirectly dependent on coal mining – such as the literal mining of coal from the mines; the profits accrued by the mine owners; the transportation business; and how coal mining as a circular economy has enabled farmer-producers to also earn and subsist. The coal mining business as we have known it, is not a co-operative venture. Hence the earnings are not equitably shared among the members. Affluent residents of East Jaintia Hills own the mines and have made significant wealth from this business, subsequently investing in real estate in Shillong and outside the state.
It is also important at this juncture to examine the background of Marchall SB Biam who has been on a 9-day fast to pressure the MDA Government to allow coal mining to resume. Why has he undertaken the fast now and not since 2014 when the ban was first imposed by the National Green Tribunal which was later upheld by the Supreme Court? How many schools has the coal economy built and supported till date? Not a single one. Considering corporate social responsibility (CSR) involves reinvesting profits into social services, what social welfare has the coal economy invested in? What NGOs involved in social service have the coal mine owners promoted and supported? The acid mine drainage has poisoned rivers in Jaintia Hills to the point where those who can afford it buy their water in tankers brought from far-off distances to avoid the toxicity of the local water supply systems. But what about the poor? How do they cope with this toxic eco-system? Yet today the same people are supposedly supporting the revival of coal mining without putting any safeguards in place? What about the thousands of abandoned coal mines? Does the Government have a reclamation scheme in place? When the environment is in such a fluid state and the climate is changing irrevocably why doesn’t the restoration of the abandoned mines and re-afforestation become an important agenda for the MDA Government? Why is there talk of scientific mining without first addressing the past onslaught on the environment?
If coal mining is to be resumed it must take into account the environment and safety standards required by law. It cannot be that 15-20 people, because of their pecuniary circumstances, should be forced to enter the mines without any safety gear. Those who are currently demanding the resumption of coal mining activities should also speak about the dangers of rat hole mining. Just because those entering the mines are not locals can coal mining resume without putting safety standards in place? There cannot be a quick-fix solution if the coal mines do re-open. There is need for far-sighted solutions which means that coal mining must operate on a transparent basis. The mine owners must daily account for the number of miners they employ and their safety. The mining has to be environmentally compliant and it must be socially beneficial and ensure that the profits are ploughed back into the environment and social sectors such as education and health care.
