Residents of Sundergarh grow black paddy; their lungs are filled with coal dust; their agricultural lands have been taken over for mining; and the youth are adrift and jobless.
Sundergarh in Odisha is known as the “Black Land.” No, there is no black soil. It is a coal mining area, and the activity has had a negative impact on the health and livelihoods of the local residents, who are mostly indigenous communities like the Hill Khadia, Bhuyan, and Gonds.
The Sundergarh district’s Hemagir block is engulfed in toxic black coal dust. This is due to the fact that 3,500 trucks pass through 45 villages every day, transporting coal from nearby open pit mines.
The health consequences of coal mining are severe. It is responsible for a variety of pulmonary diseases, including coal miners’ pneumoconiosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD cases in Sundergarh have increased by nearly 45 percent over the last decade.
Coal miners are subjected to crystalline silica dust, which causes silicosis and other health problems. These lung diseases have caused impairment, disability, and death.
People in coal belts have higher rates of respiratory illness than the general population, and the Hemagir block is no exception. Ratanpur, Chhatabar, and Luabahal are among the worst affected villages.
Farmers’ livelihoods have also been harmed as a result of dust from coal mining. In Sundergarh, the paddy is black. It is not the same as black rice. That may sound exotic and high in protein. The pigment anthocyanin, which has potent antioxidant properties, gives black rice its signature black-purple colour.
Hemagir’s discoloured black paddy, on the other hand, is a cancer-causing poison.
The discoloured rice cannot be sold to millers or LAMPCS (Large Adivasi Multipurpose Cooperative Societies Ltd) (like Gopalpur and Luabahal LAMPCS for instance). They will not buy black paddy.
Extensive ground inspections in the area have been conducted by district and block agriculture officers, as well as soil scientists. They have officially reported that the discoloration of the paddy is so thick that even after a thorough wash, a tar-like paste remains on the surface of the paddy grains.
The deposits thicken and become more intensely layered.
Taking the Initiative
Several reports have been written. Locals have spoken out in defence of their right to life. About three years ago, the Union Environment Ministry established a site inspection and monitoring report. It stated that particulate matter PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations in the area were above permissible limits.
The report recommended that more sprinkling and control measures be implemented as soon as possible. Despite widespread protests, the Union environment ministry’s expert appraisal committee (EAC) recommended environmental clearance for a 20% expansion of the capacity of the Kulda opencast coal mine.
What about the people, their children and grandchildren, their health, agriculture, and water bodies?
The mine’s output will be increased from 14 MTPA to 19.60 MTPA. The mine owner, Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), plans to plant 100,000 native trees with broad leaves along the villages and 50,000 trees along the transportation route.
Can they put that into action on the ground, or will they have to wait two years to plant these? The ministry has also directed MCL to install air quality monitoring stations in the mining area.
There has been no monitoring of dust emissions from mining operations, including transportation, thus far. Companies in the transportation and mining industries are in cahoots. The magnitude of the expansion should not further marginalise local communities by subjecting them to land acquisition, displacement, corruption, intimidation, and toxic, lethal pollution.
Health emergencies are on the rise. Local farmers’ livelihoods are dwindling. Agriculture lands have been taken over for mining, leaving the youth stranded and jobless.
25 acres of cultivated land in Ratanpur village were recently acquired for mining. The area’s Scheduled Castes and Tribes are small, marginal landholders who have traditionally farmed in the surrounding forests. Even their claims for forest land titles / Patta under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, have gone unheard.
The coal companies are clearly attempting to earn millions of dollars in carbon credits from the coal expansion. Nothing should stand in the way of that, but it should not come at the expense of human lives.
Environmental protests are becoming more common. Coal is a cornerstone of climate diplomacy, and we in Odisha are struggling to revitalise the economy following the COVID-19 pandemic and recurring natural disasters.
Prasanta Patnaik