By
B. Sivaraman
It
is almost a month since tragedy struck the Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya when 15
miners got trapped in a rat-hole mine that got flooded from a nearby river. The
rescue workers — from the state and the national disaster management
authorities from the Navy, Army and even the Air Force as well as experts from
CIL and Odisha — are still working day and night. The entire nation — and even
the international community — hope desperately for a miracle and wish them
luck.
The
larger tragedy is that the mighty Indian state itself is trapped in a rat-hole
of callousness and indifference. Rat-hole mining is illegal, unscientific and
hazardous. It is rampant in Meghalaya. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) in its
interim order of 17 April 2014 said: “[A scientific study] shows an alarming
situation existing in the state of Meghalaya, especially in the Jaintia Hills
wherein rat-hole mining has been in practice for a long time. We are of the
considered view that such illegal and unscientific method can never be allowed
in the interest of maintaining ecological balance of the country and safety of
the employees”. The NGT further directed: “Accordingly, we direct the Chief
Secretary, Government of Meghalaya and the Director General of Police, State of
Meghalaya to ensure that rat-hole mining is stopped forthwith throughout the
State of Meghalaya and any illegal transport of coal shall not take place until
further orders passed by this tribunal”.
As
NGT has the status of a Green Tribunal of the Supreme Court, this is virtually
a ban on rat-hole mining in Meghalaya. Far from enforcing the ban, the
authorities continued to remain indifferent. In its final orders dated 25 March
2015, the NGT openly indicted the Meghalaya government: “It is undisputable
that orders of the tribunal have been violated without exception”.
The
ruling BJP-National People’s Party (NPP) coalition, while in opposition
earlier, demanded that the Congress government use Meghalaya’s status as a
Sixth Schedule state to get the NGT ban lifted. It made this the central issue
in the polls as well. The mining mafia could defy the NGT orders with impunity
because patronage from powerful political forces across the spectrum. About 30
per cent of the 374 candidates in the Meghalaya Assembly elections held on 27
February 2018 were either owners of mines or had stakes in the largely
unregulated coal mining and transportation industries.
Immediately
after the tragedy struck, the NDRF, Navy, Army and Air force units were pressed
into service though belatedly. Still, the logistics support from the state and
the Centre did not come about. The Supreme Court also indicted the Meghalaya
government over this callousness. In its affidavit filed before the apex court,
the Meghalaya government itself admitted that it could procure only two pumps
to pump out the water. While the big farmers using 10 HP pump sets for
irrigation in the rest of India can pump out 96,000 litres of water per hour,
for some inexplicable reason the Meghalaya government, in its affidavit, claims
that they could pump out only 1,08,000 litres of water on the second day of the
disaster. On third and fourth days, 1,68,000 and 1,44,000 litres of water were
pumped out but still the water level had not receded because this shaft was
interlinked with some 20 other inundated shafts.
The
NDRF team arrived on 20 December, one full week after the disaster. Only after
13 days the state government approached the Centre with a request for 100 HP
pumps. Finally, it was Odisha Fire Service which, in a praiseworthy gesture,
voluntarily came forward to help with 100 HP pump sets on 29 December and IAF
airlifted them. Indian Navy divers came after 17 days but expressed inability
to dive 320 feet as they did not have the necessary equipment. The pumps also
malfunctioned; the diesel pumps could not be used and the nearest power line
was 5 kms away and by 5 January 2019 only 10,00,000 litres of water could be
pumped out cumulatively!
This
is the record of the Indian state, which pats itself on the back for carrying
out “surgical strikes” inside Pakistan. This is the competence of rulers who
erect 597 feet statue for Patel but could not mobilise divers with suitable
equipment to dive up to 320 feet!
Illegal
mining is a pan-Indian phenomenon. According to the MB Shah Commission report,
94 of the 192 iron ore mining leases in Odisha did not have the mandatory
environmental clearances, and of the 96 that had them 75 had mined far beyond
their permitted levels over the past several years. There was a change of
government in Karnataka due to illegal mining and a CM in Jharkhand had to step
down. Karnataka and Goa alone have lost an estimated Rs. 51,000 crore revenue
in one decade due to illegal mining. Lakhs of hectares of land and lakhs of
workers are involved in illegal mining. But there are no labour standards or
safety regulations.
Hundreds
of illegal miners in Jharia area of Jharkhand have died due to underground fire
and earth caving in; chromium mining in Odisha has taken a toll of hundreds of
lives, and many maimed workers in Madhya Pradesh stone quarries assemble like
beggars to take money offered by their colleagues on their day of wages.
Workers in uranium mining in Jharkhand and asbestos mining in Cuddapah in AP
are dying in dozens and among Saharia tribes of MP entire villages are known as
‘Villages of Widows’ as men in mining have died due to TB.
The
Ministry of Mines sends out inspectors numbering a few. The safety issues of
mining workers are not routinely addressed by the labour ministries. There is a
Directorate of Mining Safety. But the catch is that as the powers that be
usually turn a blind eye to illegal mining, for the safety enforcement
authorities such mines do not exist. There is no question of enforcing any
safety standards in them. For instance, on the official website of the Director
General of Mining Safety there is not a single reference to rat-hole mining or
the Meghalaya tragedy. Such indifference is a greater tragedy that could pave
the way for many more Meghalaya-like tragedies. (IPA Service)
The post Mighty indian state is trapped in a rat-hole! appeared first on Newspack by India Press Agency.
