By Sonata G Dkhar
What mining has done to ‘these hills which we call home’ is unimaginable. The prodigious alterations caused by the extraction of coal and limestone have changed the very environmental, social and cultural precincts of the place. It has engulfed the land and slowly and stealthily whelmed in the people of Jaintia hills, a mineral rich district in the North Eastern state of Meghalaya.
On one of my visits to this coal and limestone rich region, I met Lad Phawa. In 2002, he began what he calls a “thriving business” that of sourcing out water and selling it in this water deficit region, caused by the excessive mining and its associated activities. As we stood overlooking his barren fields he had stopped cultivating in for the past eight years, Lad said “I don’t think I will farm again, I make a much better living by selling water”.
What he said left me thinking – is this what is engulfing the entire region, is mining going to overtake this agrarian society, what will be the outcome of such a mass shift in livelihood and why are people making the shift, will this not lead to further destruction of the environment of this ecologically diverse land.
In Jaintia hills many men and women are turning to the mining industry, if not directly then indirectly associating themselves with this fastidiously growing economically viable industry. Many from the well- off local Pnar population have either started mining in their own land or have leased their land to other private coal mine owners, this in the absence of any regulation and the existence of a complex land ownership system that grants direct control of the land to the tribal people, qualifying Meghalaya as the only state in the country where mining is done privately. While many working the coal mines are migrant labourers, a number of the local folk work as supervisors of the coal dumps or as daily wage labourers loading trucks. There are those like Lad who utilise sources at hand and market water, while others work in making and selling the small tools needed for mining.
“Why should I even consider stopping mining” says Kong Rit (name changed) from Sohkynphor village who overlooks the loading of trucks at Kongong, a coal dumping ground adjacent to national highway 44. “I can now feed my family properly, send my children to school and even have enough money for medicines” she adds trying hard to explain to me why mining should not be stopped in these hills. This may not be a unified voice of the Pnars/Jaintias but it is a powerful dominant opinion, which many are fearful to contradict. It is this opinion that has allowed the rampant spread of mining and overlooked the harm and destruction caused by unchecked, unscientific mining to the land and the environment.
Many paddy fields have been left barren; the Jhum (Shifting) cultivation has reduced. Even though 70% of the state is dependent on agriculture, in Jaintia hills personal stories of people tell us of a shift in livelihood. According to a study by Dr K Sarma with the help of the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, the cropped area in the coal region of Jaintia hills has reduced from 2.65% in 1975 to 1.62% in2001 while the mining area has increased from 3.26% in 1975 to 10.75% in 2001. The dense forest cover in Jaintia hills has also dramatically reduced from 22.5% of the total area in 1975 to a mere 12.34% in 2001
Coal dumped and extracted next to what once paddy fields
Jaintia hills is undergoing major environmental changes due to private coal mining and the extensive limestone quarrying and the many cement plants that have mushroomed in the past couple of years. The water bodies in the area are polluted, the water table is declining, there have been changes in land forms, and the numbers of forests have decreased. In fact according to the Meghalaya Pollution Control Board air pollution levels have increased leading to warmer temperatures in the coal belt region of the state. The report states that the average concentration of suspended particulate matter is 200 micro gram per cubic metre while sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen is 6.5 and 25.5 micro gram per cubic meter respectively. Shortage of rainfall over the years in a region famous for heavy rains is another indicator of the changing climatic conditions in the region.
The situation is worsening by the day and the effects on the environment and the people deleterious. “Every year we used to collect rain water for our daily use” says Puson Gympad, a resident and the secretary of Lumchnong village. “...but this year things are different, ever since the year’s first shower till now the rain water is so dirty we do not even dare use it for anything” he adds while showing me the water collected from the rain that poured as we were sitting and having tea. This is the plight of people residing in Lumchnong village which is situated along the national highway 44, whose two main sources of water – the kotsati cave and the Wah(river)Larung were polluted ever since a staggering 9 cement plants and a few captive power plants were set up within a five kilometre radius around the elaka (area) within the span of 10 years.
Unfortunately despite that most of the problems the elaka is facing is because of the setting up of the many cement plants in the region, most people still opt to work in the factories. “None of the youngsters know how to go and cultivate, they all lie by idle or even if they work they go to the factories” says Thrin Lamare, Lumchnong’s oldest woman and the last generations of farmers in the village. Puson looks at this as people “being short sighted” as one day the resources will be exhausted, the factories will close and nothing will remain, but the situation is far more complex.
Nearly 60% of the village land has already been leased to the different cement plants and this is not the situation only in Lumchnong. Vast areas of the limestone rich Narpoh elaka as well have been leased off for a mere RS 30 - 40/kmsq. While walking around some of the villages, numbered rocks and cut trees and untended orange orchards are witness to the transactions that have already been made, transactions where benefactors will always remain a handful. For the rest, earning a livelihood is of key importance, even if it means working in those very places that are causing harm to the land and environment they live in, even it means to move away from a practise integral to their way of life.
“Our land will be stripped naked” Puson’s indignant words resonate in my head. They tell me of a Jaintia hills that is being destroyed and desecrated, they tell me of the infinite woes that the people are confronting and they tell me of the irresponsible extensive mining that is killing the people and the environment
**Sonata G Dkhar is an independent film maker, currently based in Shillong. sonata84@gmail.com
** Sonata is Panos South Asia Fellow 2010 whose current work deals with conflict and environmental changes in Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya.
via Countercurrents.org
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