Rat-Hole Mining
Kartavya Desk Staff
Source: TH
Context: Recently, the tragic loss of lives in a flooded rat-hole coal mine in Assam’s Dima Hasao district reignited the debate on the persistence of illegal mining and its consequences.
About Rat-hole Mining:
• What it is: Rat-hole mining involves digging narrow tunnels, barely large enough for workers to crawl in, to extract coal seams. It is of two types: Side-cutting mining on hill slopes to follow visible coal seams. Box-cutting mining where deep pits are dug, and horizontal tunnels are made.
• Side-cutting mining on hill slopes to follow visible coal seams.
• Box-cutting mining where deep pits are dug, and horizontal tunnels are made.
• Why it persists in India: Economic Incentives: Workers earn significantly more compared to farm or construction work. Local Control: In Sixth Schedule areas like Meghalaya, landowners also own the minerals, making regulation challenging. Lack of Modern Techniques: High costs and terrain complexities discourage mechanized mining. Poor Governance: Weak enforcement and alleged official complicity allow illegal mining to flourish.
• Economic Incentives: Workers earn significantly more compared to farm or construction work.
• Local Control: In Sixth Schedule areas like Meghalaya, landowners also own the minerals, making regulation challenging.
• Lack of Modern Techniques: High costs and terrain complexities discourage mechanized mining.
• Poor Governance: Weak enforcement and alleged official complicity allow illegal mining to flourish.
• NGT Ban: Imposed in 2014 to prevent environmental degradation and protect lives.
• Why Northeast India has more rat-hole coal mines:
• Sixth Schedule Land Rights: In states like Meghalaya, tribal communities own land and minerals, making it difficult for government regulations to enforce mining standards effectively.
• Thin Coal Seams: The coal deposits in Northeast India are narrow and shallow, making large-scale mechanized mining economically unviable and favoring primitive rat-hole techniques.
• Challenging Terrain: The hilly and rugged topography of the region restricts the use of modern mining machinery, leading to reliance on manual methods like rat-hole mining.
• High Demand and Local Economy: Rat-hole mining provides quick profits and employment for local communities, driven by demand from nearby industries like cement and thermal power plants.
Insta links:
• Rat-hole-mining