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| 10 lakh people in the country may be displaced due to coal mining projects by 2025 |
About 10 lakh people in the country may be displaced due to coal mining projects by 2025, according to a study conducted by the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited (CMPDI), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL) and one of India's leading consultancy organisations.
"An estimated 8.5 lakh people are set to be ousted by the coal mining projects by 2025 and an additional 1.12 lakh will be displaced if the master plan, formulated by CIL for Jharia and Raniganj coalfields is implemented. The large scale displacement of people will be caused by the land requirement for coal mining which will reach 2,925 sq km by 2025, up from the existing 1,470 sq km", B Dayal, general manager (technical services) of CMPDI said.
The share of forest land for coal mining activities is also set to grow from 20-25 per cent at present to 30 per cent by 2025.
The CMPDI study has also touched upon the issue of closure of mines and the contentious issue of permitting mining in forest regions. The report has called for demarcation of coal reserves under forest areas as 'yes' and 'no' mining zones.
It has also advocated the framing of greenhouse emission norms which coal mining companies ned to adhere to during and after mining.The study points out that since rehabilitation is a very sensitive issue in the country today, there is need for consensual rehabilitation and involvement of people in the mining projects right from the beginning.
"The mining companies need to offer attractive rehabiltation packages to the displaced people. Not only this, they also have to invest in peripheral development like building better roads, hospitals and schools for the displaced families.
What they need to focus is on how they can improve the quality of life of the people who are going to be ousted as a result of the mining projects", Dayal alleged. He further said that the mining companies should make all efforts to generate alternative employment avennues for those people who are not absorbed in their projects.
Dayal cautioned that the spurt in mining activities will also generate a lot of ash and other waste products. At present, coal mining generates 300 million ton per annum of ash and another 200 million ton of washery rejects per annum are slated to be added as CIL has planned to supply washed coal to all its consumers barring pit-head power plants.
Keeping in view the contribution of mining companies to the surging pollution levels, the CMPDI study has stressed on the need for CIL to adopt clean coal technologies like Coal Bed Methane (CBM), Coal Mine Methane (CMM), underground as well as surface coal gasification and coal liquefaction.
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