The State of Jharkhand is risked by mining and excavation activity. A National Institute of Disaster Management report notifies 9 districts in the State, namely, latehar, Ramgarh, Dhanbad, lohardagga, Giridih, E. & W. Singhbhum, Koderma as major hazard affected districts. NIDM report of 2012 says, “The State has 38% of India’s mineral reserves in general. Some of the units such as Iron & Steel, copper etc have the potential of generating even gaseous emission viz. SO2, NOX etc. Emission of fugitive dust in huge quantities due to mining, transportation and coal burning activities deteriorates the ambient air quality. Apart from the air pollution the other environmental impact of the mineral based Industries is water pollution.”
Recent happenings in lalmatia , Godda (2016) is probably a pathetic failure which could have prevented if risk assessment were conducted regularly. Given various reports, there is reason to believe that in near future Ramgarh, Bokaro, Dhandbad, Godda and other areas. Action of these companies is posing continuous threat to life of thousands which are principally Geodynamic in Nature. Against the backdrop of Godda Incident, response to it may be apt to raise a concern.
First we need to know, how we plan to fight this upcoming disaster arising out of manmade activities disturbing land stability in large part of the State. Is there an annual safety review exercise in practiceIJ What are the Technical and Administrative Fall out observed by such experts/committees for ECl Mines at GoddaIJ Otherwise if there is no such system Can we expect Ministry of Corporate Affairs to come up with Comparative Safety and Sustainability Status of Project Affected Villages by corporate action across the country. There are so many commercial and Industry brochures available regarding sustainability practices. However, we need an annual status report of mines with Safety ratings by a Central agency preferably, DGMS.
The CSR loophole:
It often becomes an irony that some of the corporate organizations conduct Eye Camp, Foot Ball Competition or Free Medical camp using CSR Fund for greater visibility and publicity, while life risking challenges of safe rehabilitation of affected economically disadvantaged families remains under attended. We also observed that there is no formal provision of Panchayets of Project Affected Villages in demanding and shaping CSR Work. Neither there is any provision of Social audit of CSR activities. Till the time these provisions are made mandatory, CSR would continue to remain within the realm of charity Event missing the purpose.
As many report has pointed out that stability of land is a problem because of unscientific mining in Jharkhand. law makers may think to pull in at least 1% of CSR amount to carry out scientific Survey, land filling and rehabilitation operation as mandatory through Gram Panchayets on annual basis. CSR work of Mining Companies and Industries should be brought under the purview of Social Audit in Project affected villages and Social Audit report with specific comment on satisfactory /unsatisfactory shall be made mandatory for all mines & Industry.
At this point we should probably ask specific questions regarding h percentage of CSR spending has been spent in Project affected Villages of Jharkhand by Eastern Coal Fields, Central Coal Fields, SAIl & ONGC in FY 2016-17IJ What has been the percentage spending of Eastern Coal Fields, Central Coal Fields, SAIl & ONGC Jharkhand operation in Mines Safety & Disaster MitigationIJ What action is being taken by the concerned authorities to ensure that ECl incident is not repeated in other locationsIJ It may be appropriate to bring in a bill or Departmental notification to ensure participation of Panchayets safe guarding local people’s interest in Mines leasing and assessment process.
Some strategies suggested by Disaster management Experts of NIDM & UNDP at various points to prevent Mines Hazard includes Development of technology for effective surface blanketing, Development of technology for sealing large fire area through surface boreholes, & developments in pressure balancing technology for fire control Development of technology for measuring Barrier thickness and modeling of water logged areas. Design and development of Safety Chamber, Development of technology for locating trapped miners, SMP based on Risk Assessment Integrated Emergency Response Systems has been proposed in literature. It’s time to bring them in practice. CSR Funds may be put into good use to ensure and improve Geological Stability and Environmental sustainability of People in the project affected villages through participatory Panchayeti Raj Action rather than anything else.
(The author is a Development Practitioner and Management Consultant based at Ranchi, Jharkhand. He holds a Masters degree in Applied Geology from Jadavpur University and a Post Graduate Diploma from Institute of Rural Management Anand. Photo from internet resources.)