The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015 has brought a major institutional arrangement with the provision of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) as a nonprofit trust for ensuring welfare of the mining affected areas and the inhabitants.
DMF is created under the provision of the Act, by insertion of section 9B to the principal Act, to work for the interest and benefits of persons and areas affected by mining related operations. Any district affected by mining related operation will have a DMF as a nonprofit body to be created by the State Government by notification. The State Government has to make rules regarding the composition and functioning of the trust. It is further said in the Act that while making rules, the Government has to be guided by the provisions of administration of scheduled area /tribal area and provisions of PESA 1996 and FRA 2006. The lease holders of major and minor minerals will have to pay to the DMF in the manner decided by both Centre in case of major minerals and by State in case of minor minerals.
This DMF is going to play a major role in the development of mines area as well as the affected people there. The Government of Odisha has initiated the process to set up DMF in all mines bearing districts. As said by the Minister of Mines, it is decided by the State that Collectors of the respective district will be the Chairperson of the trust along with senior officials and representatives of the mining companies as its members but Government must include the local peoples representatives specially Adivasi, Dalit and women in such bodies to make it inclusive of all social groups in mining area.
With the Chief Minister’s order to the Rural Development Department to prepare a master plan for the development of mineral bearing districts such as Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Angul, Jajpur, Koraput, and Rayagda, the DMF has raises hopes high among the people in mines areas because this provision is created by law and a complete institutional mechanism is going to be established locally to address the interest of the people and the area which bears the impact of mining for last few decades. In the coming days, the mining operation will grow manifolds because the lease period has been extended to 50 years and the lease area will also be expanded. There are a number of mining companies including the MNCs with FDI are already operating in Odisha for mining and mineral based industries. Odisha, being a mineral bearing State, is a favorable destination for companies. The DMF is going to play a major role in the overall development of the State including the mines area.
Odisha has about 58 varieties of major minerals and 22 varieties of minor minerals with four major mineral belts. The coal belt covers central Odisha on the bank of river Mahanadi which include districts of Angul, Sambalpur, Jharasuguda and Sundargarh where about one third of the coal deposit of the country is available. The Sukinda chrome valley having 98 per cent of the chrome deposits of the country on the bank of river Brahmani in Jajpur and the adjacent areas of Keonjhar district, parts of Mayurbhanj and major parts of Sundargarh district constitute the chrome, iron ore and manganese belt. The south west Odisha includes Malkanagiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Balangiri, Kandhamal, Kalahandi districts having 70 per cent of the bauxite deposit along with tin, graphite and other minerals. The coastal mineral belt includes Ganjam and Puri district with minerals of sand and rare earth. Besides, natural gas, petroleum and metallic minerals have been identified in the Mahanadi delta and Puri –Brahamagiri belt. The Sundargarh district has highest number of mines followed by Keonjhar and Maurbhanj. Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Angul and Keonjahr are ahead of all districts in terms of displacement due to mining operation.
Odisha is home to 10 per cent of the tribals of the country and 44 per cent of the total geographical area of the State is declared as fifth scheduled area inhabited by 62 tribal communities. About 60 per cent of the mines are in scheduled area and these areas are home to tribals, Dalit and other farming communities. The last few decades of mining operation has impacted over life and livelihood of these communities who have been primarily depending on forest and agriculture base livelihood for survival. Along with displacement, they face huge loss of livelihood which resulted in landlessness, poverty, distress migration and unemployment.
Since independence, in spite of people’s movement and protest, a number of constitutional provisions such as PESA and TSP and protective laws for Adivasies are not being implemented by State and deliberately violated in many ways to benefit the mining companies operating in scheduled areas. In case of Samata Judgment, the Supreme Court order in the year 1997 to spend certain percentage of the profit for local area development, and similar provisions of periphery development, rehabilitation and resettlement are openly flouted. The funds earmarked for the purposes are not spent properly by any mining company in the absence of State monitoring of these provisions in the interest of the local people specially the Adivasies and other marginalised sections.
The impact of mining on people’s socio-economic and environmental condition, quality of life and standard of living in the State in general and mines areas in particular gives a negative picture as poverty and deprivation with environmental degradation are hallmarks in the mines bearing areas. Many studies have found that it is always the poor and marginalized mostly the Adivasis, Dalits, farmers, women and children are the worst sufferers. The majority of mining workers live in mining slums and their living condition has not been improved to a minimum standard. They have been deprived of getting basic minimum such as drinking water and housing in spite of organized trade unions intervention in mining areas. The majority of people in mining slums are Adivasies, who are mostly landless, homeless and depend on physical labour in mining. They have been made homeless in their own soil and face displacement directly and indirectly due to mining operation.
Mining has been a major cause of deforestation, soil and water pollution with improper implementation of all environmental protection and pollution control laws. The temperature in mining area has gone high and the ground water table has gone down as well as the water bodies getting dried up. The mining areas become inhabitable due to both underground and open cast mining. There has been no refilling of abundant mining in major mineral area which is a matter of concern as it is prone to underground eruption and such other serious problem. The DMF funds can be used for creation of land by refilling the abundant mining and regenerating the waste land with soil and water treatment. It will bring back the devastated area into a habitable climatic zone by restoring the ecosystem. The land can be given back to the landless and farmers still depending on agriculture for livelihood.
The State Government should use this opportunity to rebuild the mining areas by using such huge funds going to be available locally for the social and human development along with the eco system of the zone. The DMF should target basic things like health, education, communication and basic infrastructure focusing the most marginalized sections in mining area, and the affected core, buffer and periphery of the mining area. The district plans can be supported out of DMF funds for the overall development of the districts by integrating the development of the poor and mining areas of the districts. The districts like Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj and Jajpur can be integrated as a zone by linking the development of the whole region. Similarly, the coal areas of Angul, Jharsuguda and Sundargarh can be combined into a common action plan. The undivided Koraput district can have a common development plan. The State may constitute a mines area development board to plan and coordinate all such developmental activities at State level by integrating all developmental plans of mining areas.
(The writer is a researcher and rights activist, who can be mailed at manasbbsr15@gmail.com)