21/12/2018 - Environment

KEY POINTS

Rat-hole mining involves digging of rat-hole-sized small tunnels, usually only 3-4 feet high, which workers (often children) enter and extract coal.

Ecological implications

·        Rat-hole mining in Meghalaya had caused the water in the Kopili river (it flows through Meghalaya and Assam) to turn acidic.

·        Entire roadsides in and around mining areas are used for piling of coal which is a major source of air, water, and soil pollution.

·        Off-road movement of trucks and other vehicles in the area causes further damage to the ecology of the area.

Reasons for practice despite the ban

·        No other method would be economically viable in Meghalaya, where the coal seam is extremely thin.

·        Removal of rocks from the hilly terrain and putting up pillars inside the mine to prevent collapse would be costlier.

·        Rat-hole mining operations have been in practice in Jaintia Hills, for many years without being regulated by any law and extraction of coal has been made by unscrupulous elements in a most illegal and unscientific manner.

Stringent action must be taken by the executives with utmost transparency and accountability to stop the illegal mining practice in Meghalaya.

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