Meghalaya mine tragedy: Illegal mining rampant in the country

Around 77,081 cases of illegal mining reported in April- December 2017

Fifteen miners remain trapped in an illegal ‘rathole’ coal mine for over three weeks in India. Illegal mining, however, is not new for the country and would continue unless radical changes are brought in, say various stakeholders from the mining industry.

Rat hole mining is a process of digging holes to make narrow tunnels to extract a mineral, said to be prevalent in some parts of the country, and also an illegal process. Industry officials, government representatives and social workers, as well as government data, all agree illegal mining is an issue. The menace, however, involves a complex web of demand-supply economics, job scarcity, green rules etc 

Between April 2017 and December 2017, around 77,081 cases of illegal mining of various minerals, including sand, was witnessed across states, according to a response tabled in the Lok Sabha in August 2018. There is no official estimate of the loss to the exchequer because of such activities, but the response pegged the fine realised by various state governments in the same period at Rs 2,480.85 crore.

“I am not saying that there is no illegal mining happening in sand near the rivers, but it is not an alarming situation since it takes place in the traditional method which can hardly allow any sizeable damage. It is not a mechanised activity at all, it is done manual,” said Prasanna Acharya, director at Directorate of Mines & Geology, Goa.

For minerals, such as coal, one of the most sought after in a developing country like India, former government officials agree the solution needs to be holistic. “One cannot ban everything, one has to regulate in a way so that resource is available to cater to demand. Illegal mining needs to be seen in the context of the fact that there is demand for particular produce and hence irregularities will come in if this demand is not legally met,” said Anil Swarup, former coal secretary for the country.

Interestingly, the need for allowing structured mining in Meghalaya has been raised in the past, with no major action taken. “In Meghalaya, coal is available, but not available legally for various reasons including environmentalists sitting in Delhi. For most of other mining areas for coal in India, structured processes were introduced, barring Meghalaya because of the ban. Structured and legal mining helps to reduce accidents significantly. In India, it is easy to bring a blanket ban, but difficult to execute,” he added.

India’s coal supply turned more precarious with a Supreme Court order in September 2014, which declared 214 coal block allocations illegal. The order, however, had no impact on other illegal mines as they continue to remain unaccounted. “The 2014 Supreme Court judgement has not helped curb illegal mining primarily because these mines, never having been nationalised, were not under the purview of the SC order. SC order cancelled the legitimately allocated mines," said a top official from a power producing company on the condition of anonymity. His company was mining coal for captive purposes.

Goa’s iron ore mining makes for a similar case. Claude Alvares, secretary of Goa Foundation points out iron ore mining in the union territory is shut since March 15, 2018, as leases were not renewed. “But, illegal mining continues,” he said. “There is illegal sand extraction going on along all rivers of Goa under the minor mineral lease,” he added.

“The Department of Mines has no staff to clamp down on these activities. Hence no action is taken, even if complaints are made. People have gone to the court complaining but nothing has really changed on the ground,” Alvares added. Acharya, from the department, however, has a different view. “I do not see any need for more staff and all is under control and there is no illegal mining issue of that big a size that we need to be worried about,” he said.

For states like Rajasthan, illegal mining goes beyond harm to the environment and hit to the exchequer. “The Meghalaya incident has made headlines, but a large percentage of the population in Rajasthan is suffering from silicosis due to dust from mines and lives are lost due to blasts and other accidents while mining," said Kailash Meena, a social worker from Rajasthan who is fighting against excessive mining in the Aravalli range. This range is rich in limestone, mostly sold for road construction and other related activities, and some other minerals. “There is rampant illegal mining ongoing in Rajasthan in the name of job opportunities. Illegal mining continues due to corruption at different levels,” he added.

Based on data shared with Parliament, Rajasthan witnessed the highest number of deaths in metal mines. Overall, 129 lives were lost in fatal accidents across mines- involving coal, metal and oil in 2017 across India, according to a response shared in the Lok Sabha this month. In terms of states, Rajasthan saw the highest number of deaths, with 23 workers killed in metal mines in 2017 and Telangana lost 13 lives, the highest for coal mines in the same year.

Karnataka, another mining state, that has witnessed scams in the mining sector, has taken up several measures for controlling illegal mining activity. A senior official from MSPL, a mining company in Karnataka, said the state government has complied with various orders of the Supreme Court on iron ore mining. This includes provision of GPS and RFID for transport vehicles, compliance reports and mine visits by DMG/DDMG officials and presence of forest officials at mining sites to witness loading and issue passes. Besides, check posts on the route of transport where RFID is registered have also been set up. Deviation from the approved roadmap is monitored.

He, however, expressed doubts if the present e-auction sales of iron ore in the state was the best mechanism in the long term. "It has served its purpose and state must request court for opening up the market for free trade with full compliance to law of land," he says. Implementation of ILMS (Integrated lease management system) which captures all details pertaining to production, sale, outward movement from a lease.

The company says a transparent mechanism was good for both industry and society. The ban has been a setback for Karnataka in terms of investments, but it was essential due to entry of mafia in the mining sector, he added.