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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Survey Reveals Pathetic Health Conditions Around Raigarh Coal Mines, Plants -Lakshmi Supriya

Survey Reveals Pathetic Health Conditions Around Raigarh Coal Mines, Plants -Lakshmi Supriya

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published Published on Dec 16, 2017   modified Modified on Dec 16, 2017
-TheWire.in

Doctors and activists found a higher than normal incidence of tuberculosis, mental illnesses and arthritis-like joint pains, even among people below the age of 30.

Tired, ghoulish bodies moving around in a field of ash casting a blanket of sameness against vast, black mines, broken now and then by the bright yellow of scorching fires – this is what a coal mine looks like. Lighting up the nation comes at a steep price for communities living near these mines and the coal-fired power plants that generate electricity. Aside from having their air severely polluted,, these people also suffer from hair loss, allergies, arthritis and mental illnesses, according to a new study that surveyed households in several villages near coal mines and plants in Chhattisgarh.

The ill effects of coal mining are not unknown. A 2013 report used air pollution data near about a 100 coal plants across the nation, representing a total power capacity of about 120 GW, and estimated that these installations were responsible for the deaths of about 100,000 people in 2011 alone, as well as more than 20 million asthma cases.

Coal mines are notorious for polluting everything around them. The Jharia mines in Jharkhand are a poster child for the terrible impacts this source of energy has on a country’s people and environment. Although this mine is the most productive and possesses better than average quality of coal compared to other mines in India, the resulting pollution has devastated the region. Fires have also been burning continuously in the mines for almost a century, scorching the earth and releasing carcinogenic gases into the atmosphere. Respiratory diseases have added to the death toll of accidents in the mines. The mines’ run-offs and coal washings have muddied the Damodar river.

The region stretching from Raniganj in West Bengal, to most of Jharkhand and into northern Chhattisgarh, together with parts of eastern Maharashtra, has the country’s largest coal reserves. It supports numerous mines and thermal power plants, allowing India to be one of the top five coal-producing countries in the world. On the flip side, the communities living near the mines and power plants are among the most devastated in turn.

Raigarh in Chhattisgarh has been home to several plants and coal mines, all but one of which are privately operated, for almost two decades. The people in the surrounding villages have been living here for much longer than that, farming and raising livestock. Since the mines and plants were set up, they have lost agricultural land and the surrounding forests, which had been another source of sustenance for the villagers. They have been organising protests and writing numerous letters to officials, all falling on deaf ears.

“The [2013] study came through a community demand,” says Rinchin, an environmentalist and one of the authors. “One was to highlight what is happening” and another another to highlight the fact that not enough attention was being paid to the people’s problems. In 2013-2014, people from Sarasmal and Kosampalli villages monitored the air pollution with the help of some NGOs and were startled by their findings. Water levels in the rivers and ponds had fallen; they found that fly ash was forming a layer on everything it could land on, from treetops to rooftops. So there was a need to document what the villagers were seeing using scientific methods, according to Rinchin.

Long-term residents of Sarasmal, Kosampalli and Dongamouha in Raigarh – 515 people (including children) – were asked about their respiratory, musculoskeletal, neurological and gastrointestinal conditions. The cohort excluded miners, plant workers and migrants. About 200 attended a medical check-up by doctors to evaluate their complaints further. All these people lived within 2 km of the mines and plants.

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TheWire.in, 15 December, 2017, https://thewire.in/205026/survey-reveals-pathetic-health-conditions-around-raigarh-coal-mines-plants/


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