SUMMER PROJECT FOR “OPSSEN”- by TRISHA LAHIRI

22^nd July,2012

Venue- DHANBAD, JHARKHAND

As all the OPPSEN members were assigned to do a project about survey of environmental degradation and the social issues prevalent in our area.

My project is basically based on my hometown- “Dhanbad”, a small industrial town situated in the state of Jharkhand. Recently Dhanbad is in highlights after the release of the movie “Gangs of Wasseypur”….the movie that reveals only a part of the political scenario that governs this mining world!!

This report is highlighting the potential of Dhanbad-Jharia coal mines….its influence in industries and the environment, the health of the people…the coal politics of the raging coal mafias…..and attempt for betterment of the present scenario with scientific aids by ISM(Indian School Of Mines, Dhanbad).

For people who are yet unknown of its existence- here is a brief info. –

Dhanbad-A City Of “BLACK DIAMOND” :

      Dhanbad coal fields are situated in the state of Jharkhand in the East of India, neighbouring West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.

      The Dhanbad-Jharia area forms part of a mineral rich corridor, most of India’s reserves in coal, copper, iron ore and uranium are located in the Durgapur-Dhanbad-Bokaro-Jamshedpur triangle.

      Industrial coal mining started in the second half of the 19th century, subsequently both steel manufacturing and power generation came up in the region.

      also famous as “the coal capital of India”.

·        The mining and industrial clusters are surrounded by agriculturally backward and jungle-dominated areas.

·         The ‘local’ population in these areas belong to the poorest rural sections in India. They have become important bases for the Maoist armed struggle.

According to the recent reports,

Ø    Dhanbad is the 96^th fastest growing city in the world.

Ø  According to the 2011 census,

ü  Dhanbad is among the 53 cities of India with a population of more than one million and is the 42nd largest city!!

ü  has an average literacy rate of 75.71%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 85.78% and female literacy is 64.70%(according to the recent article I read). 

ü   10.57% of the population is under 5 years of age( proud of its statistics….and expect it to grow more!!)

Dhanbad-The Upcoming Important Industrial hub!!

      Tata Steel,BCCL , ECL and IISCO (Indian Iron And Steel Company) are some of the companies owning coal mines in this district.

      Coal mining, coal washing, and coke making are the main coal-related industries in the city.

      IISCO is now owned by SAIL, while BCCL and Eastern Coalfields Limited are subsidiaries of Coal India Limited (CIL); these two companies are the largest operators of coal mines in Dhanbad, and have open cast mines as well as underground mines

      There was and still is a particular importance of the product coal itself, as an energy resource needed for industrial development – currently the regime in India sources around 60 per cent of it’s total energy from coal and has become the third largest coal producer globally.

·         In the mining areas re-composition of the working class through migration, ‘uneven development’ and technological attacks is a constant process.

·         The proletariat in Dhanbad has many faces: the pauperised Adivasi (‘indigenous’) and ‘rural poor’ population at the fringes of the mining areas – main base for the Maoist armed insurrection;

·         the village workers in the ‘illegal mines’; the casualised workers in the main mines earning ten per cent of their permanent work-mates;

·        the unemployed sons and daughters of local peasants and permanent workers, organised in an ‘unemployed movement’.

“THE MAFIA-RAJ”

      In India the name Dhanbad is synonymous with coal mafia. 

       ‘mafia’, a particular network which ‘organised’ the reproduction of the working-class through money-lending and labour contracting;

Ø   which reproduced itself materially as transport contractors, by illegal mining and later on real estate deals;

Ø   which provided the Coal India management with both gangs of strike-breaking thugs and large integrative trade union organisations;

Ø  developed strong links with the political class. The ‘mafia-mode of production’ was not an irregularity, but a kind of complementary department, outsourced by the nationalised industry.

Ø  The mafia is an economical and political network, which reaches from money-lending, illegal liquor shops, illegal mining and transport contracts, which are connected to the high ranking officials of the government.

Ø   The ‘individual components’ of the mafia, e.g. money-lending, gangs of musclemen or individual corruption within companies, existed before the 1960s and 1970s and they still exist – “so why and under which conditions did these ‘individual components’ form into a cohesive structure, into ‘clans’ which would auction police stations between themselves and who had hundreds killed ‘on demand?? “

      The one who suffers are the common people and the mine workers….crushed under their brutality. Life is not a gift of God, but them (the mafias). Block their way of working….and you might not be there to see tomorrow’s morning- sounds like a movie dialogue…but I guess those are written after being inspired from places like this!! A slight idea already fed into people’s mind, thanks to Kashyap’s movie!

The Current Scenario:

The unemployed

      Even counted as an industrial city- with lot of potential jobs…the primary problem of people is still the same as any other sub-urb areas of the country-Unemployment!!

      the ‘Unemployed Youth Organisation’ –an organisation formed by the unemployed workers…tends to fight the livelihood struggle, and make their meagre living- a somewhat voluntary brave step by the localites….although the Govt. as expected never came to aid.

The displaced villagers

      Many villages are directly affected by mining: displacement, pollution, burnt-up agriculture land, polluted water; or/and they claim their share in the mining in form of permanent jobs or ‘infrastructural investment’.

       On 8th of March 2012 villagers in Paharigora (nearby place) blockaded rail-tracks, mainly used by the coal mines, in order to demand better water supply. Their water had been dried up mainly by the coal washeries and other mining operations.

       On 27th of April 2012 police killed two protestors in Dhanbad by gun-shot and injured more than a dozen.

       People had been protesting the anti-encroachment drive at a Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) colony located in Kusunda and Matkuria, about 8 kms from Dhanbad. People set fire to about 16 vehicles, out of which 11 belonged to the BCCL authorities.

       State police headquarters said people of the area started pelting stones at the administration team, which went for the eviction of local people allegedly occupying BCCL quarters.

The guerrilla warfare in the mining fringe areas

Ø  The Maoist armed insurrection sees the mining area first of all as an ‘economic power-base’ of the enemy, less as a territory of class struggle.

Ø  They blow up rail-tracks in the impoverished fringes, hoping to put pressure on the government and mining capital.

Ø   On 8th of February 2011 Maoists blew up train tracks in three places in the Dhanbad railway division disrupting traffic for hours. The traffic on the important Coal India Chord (CIC) remained disrupted from 2am to 10.30am till the tracks were restored.

Ø   On 5th of March Maoist guerrillas attacked police posts in nearby Balumath, killing two. They subsequently blew up rail-tracks.

Ø  On 3rd of May 2011 eleven policemen were killed and at least 20 injured when Maoists ambushed a police team in that district.

Ø  On 5th of June the Times of India reported: “Hundreds of landless villagers have taken control of 210 bighas vested land in Khanpur village of Murarai on the Jharkhand border. Men armed with axes, scythes and sticks stood guard as their comrades plowed the land with tractors and sowed paddy seeds”…

“The Land And Her Children In Tears”

Ø  Needless to say, that a region where such extensive coal mining occurs, how the condition of environment would be!

Ø  The land which was once the store-house of the “black-diamond” is now practically is devoid of its treasure!!

Ø   With about 110 official coal mines and probably the same amount of unofficial mines. They are India’s main centre for coking coal, a particular sort of coal important for steel production.

Ø   Scattered in the region are the vast open-cast mines, interspersed with villages and miners colonies. Trucks loaded with coal and heavy machinery dominate the scenery, interrupted by push-carts and bicycles – loaded with coal.

Ø   The Dhanbad-Jharia region is said to be one of the most polluted areas of the world. Mining in itself is a rather forceful intervention in the environment, but capitalist social relations have resulted in forms of mining, which aggravate the attack on nature and, as part of it, on the human bodies.

Ø   The productivity drive towards open-cast mining has increased the dust production, the whole area is covered with fine coal dust, causing epidemic respiratory suffering.

Ø  In order to cut costs, many mines – and not only the unofficial mines – are not re-filled with sand, once the coal is extracted. This results in gas accumulation, underground explosions, underground fires and caving in of whole areas.

Ø   Since years a large-scale underground fire burns under the surface of Jharia, under the living area of about 600,000 people. Here and there the earth cracks open, gas, smoke and flames emerge.

Ø   Skeletons of trees, burnt from within. Jharia was declared eviction area in the early 1980s, an official master-plan was set-up to re-located hundreds of thousands of residents, but was either not put into place or displaced people were not given compensation – which increased the resistance of people towards being displaced, be it for mining or for ‘their own safety’ in order to escape the underground flames.

ISM – science lending a hand of hope!!

The budding scientists pursuing their studies in this prestigious mining college are facing a challenge for practical application of their knowledge.

Thanks to one of my uncle’s friend, who is incharge of the research group working on a technique to treat the water from the coal washeries and to make it fit enough to be reused, I came to know about the efforts ISM is putting on for the welfare of the people. He was prohibited to disclose the detail description of the technique, since it hasn’t been publicised yet….but came to know that their idea was inspired by the waste acid water treatment in china!

What’s our future???

The people have yet not seen the practical implication or let’s say any existence of the research- although they have come up with this idea…3 years back!!! (Jaw dropping news) . The reason being that the project has yet not been sanctioned by the Government!!

This awkward behaviour of the Government compels us to question our choices as to whom we appoint our leaders! Their reason of delaying is…”it may hamper the pace of economic development”…

but what’s the use of such a development if there is no healthy human left to enjoy its bliss and no healthy environment to support life???

What future are we heading to???

I guess its long time we sit back with folded hands and criticize the Govt. but we need to support organisations like ISM…if we want a safe future for our children to come...