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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Gold Rush by Venkitesh Ramakrishnan

ALMOST all the maladies afflicting the Indian mining industry have manifested themselves forcefully in the mineral-rich State of Jharkhand. Indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources, large-scale displacement of tribal people, and the rise of a mining lobby with immense political clout are only a few of these.

Of course, in the last decade the State has also witnessed the rise of a number of people's resistance movements against displacement and environmental degradation caused by mining companies. But the balance of power has always been with the mining lobby, mainly on account of the political clout enjoyed by it. Mining in Jharkhand, where coal and iron ore are abundant, dates back to the 19th century when the region was part of Bihar.

The story of displacement too begins then. In the early years of Independence, the prestigious Damodar Valley dam project dislodged about one lakh people from over 300 villages. Many of them are yet to be rehabilitated. The story continued over decades and even after the formation of the separate State of Jharkhand in 2000.

According to Sanjay Bosu Mullick, who is associated with the Bindrai Institute for Research Study and Action (BIRSA) and the Jharkhand Mines Area Coordination Committee (JMACC), the political instrument of exploitation has several dimensions. “This ranges from the stated government policy that aggressively pursues private participation with the ostensible objective of modernising the mining sector to the corrupt practices of politicians seeking to fill their individual and organisational coffers. These have been at work right from the formation of the State and have only got stronger in the past decade,” he said.

The recent history of the State bears testimony to Mullick's contention. Even those who came to power saying that they would clean up the mining sector have succumbed to its allurements. When Madhu Koda took over as Chief Minister in September 2006, he promised to clean up the sector and even ordered a review of 44 MoUs that the State government had signed between 2000 and 2006. These MoUs included those with corporate giants such as ArcelorMittal, Tata and Jindal and amounted to Rs.2 lakh crore. But in a matter of months Koda himself started using the “mines route” to amass wealth.

According to the investigating agencies probing the Rs.4,300-crore scam involving Koda, he and his associates amassed most of this by facilitating mining contracts for iron ore and coal. This, they say, was done by formulating 26 MoUs sanctioning mining to various companies and over a 100 recommendations granting mining leases to individuals and companies. These were given using the powers of ministerial discretion, which the Chief Minister, and in specific cases the Minister for Mines, possessed, according to the agencies.

The rise of Koda, an independent legislator who did not have the backing of a large political organisation, to the Chief Minister's position and his continuance in office for 23 months itself signifies the power of the mining lobby. He had formed a group with three other MLAs but this “gang of four”, it was thought, was no match for the Jharkhand Mukthi Morcha, the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party, which were well entrenched in the State. Yet Koda and his associates stayed on for nearly two years. Many of his former associates, including his personal assistant Harinder Singh, have told the investigating agencies that many bigwigs in other parties were in collusion with Koda.

Koda is in jail and his case is being investigated without much tangible progress, but the signing of MoUs for fresh mining leases and industrial activities relating to it has continued unabated in the last two years. According to the government's own admission, the number of MoUs signed by different departments has crossed 300. More than 100 of these are reportedly in the mining sector.

There are also reports from different parts of the State that those who have been given mining leases engage in large-scale mining in open violation of rules. This is because the booty probably is shared with politicians, bureaucrats and Maoists, who charge a levy for allowing any commercial and industrial activity in the State.

The net result of this is the all-round degradation of the forest areas where most of the minerals are concentrated. According to the State Forest Report of 2003, Singhbhum district has the maximum range of forests in the State – 17 per cent – and studies have shown that 99 per cent of Jharkhand's iron ore is deposited here. Extraction of iron ore by any means, legal, extralegal or illegal, thus causes widespread depletion of the forest.

Resistance movements launched by organisations such as the JMACC have led to positive results in some villages like Horomocho in Hazaribagh district and Tentoposi in Seraikela district. At Horomocho, villagers have formed a cooperative which religiously pursues sustainable mining. Tentoposi residents have organised stiff resistance to the takeover of their land for mining. But these are stray developments that do not have a widespread or long-ranging impact.

For such an impact the overall development policy needs to change along with the priorities of the political class. But things are a far cry from that now.