Curbing Illegal Coal Mining

The tragic incident of labourers trapped in an illegal flooded coal mine in the Umrasngso area of the Dima Hasao district in Assam is a wake-up call for the government on illegal coal mining in the state. The incident calls for launching a crackdown on all illegal and rat-hole coal mining activities before they claim more lives. Tracing the origin of coal consignment is the simplest way to detect illegal coal mines, but why it is not carried out by the authorities concerned is an open secret. Mining, transporting, or causing to mine or transport any mineral by a person without a prospecting license, mining lease, composite license, or exploration license is a punishable offence under The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act, 1957. The punishment includes imprisonment for a term that may extend to five years and a fine that may extend to five lakh rupees per hectare of the area. Underground coal mines, authorised or unauthorised, being located deep down under the surface, rescue operations are always very challenging. Rescue teams reaching the accident site well in time involves a massive logistics operation. As mining sites are in remote areas, precious time is often lost before an actual rescue mission can be launched. By the time rescue teams reached the Umransgo site, the water level had already risen to 100 feet, which speaks volumes about the complexities and challenges involved in an underground mine rescue mission. While authorised mines operate under laid-down safety protocols, illegal mines have no safety protocols, and labourers are compelled to work in the most unsafe conditions, which come to light only when a fatal accident occurs. Police have registered a case and arrested one person, as prima facie it appears to be an illegal mine. Investigations into the case must bring all other guilty to book and mete out exemplary punishment for deterrent action. The central government holds the view that illegal mining, being a law-and-order subject, is primarily a state subject and hence primarily falls under the jurisdiction of state/district administration to take necessary deterrent action to stop/curb illegal mining of coal. Investigation into the Umransgo incident shedding light on the illegal money trail from such illegal mining operations is crucial to bust all criminal culpabilities. Apart from putting human lives at risk and causing environmental damage, unauthorised mining also causes huge revenue loss to the State. Besides, the mobilisation of specialised rescue teams from the Army, Navy, National Disaster Response Force, and State Disaster Response Force involves massive expenditure of public funds, which needs to be factored in while quantifying the damages caused by illegal and unauthorised coal mining for framing the charges against the owner of such illegal mines and all others involved in such illegal operations. The Ministry of Coal launched the Khanan Prahari App under its Coal Mine Surveillance and Management Systems to allow citizens to report incidents of illegal coal mining by submitting geotagged photos or text messages. Popularising the app can help facilitate citizen reporting of illegal mining, but it is also important to build awareness among people to distinguish an illegal mine from an authorised mine. Clear demarcation of the boundaries of areas under authorised mining activities with clear display of license details is essential to help residents identify legal and illegal mining in their areas and report it. Allegations of illegal rat-hole mining continuing in coal reserves in upper Assam despite the standing ban on it by the National Green Tribunal point towards a nexus of illegal mine owners, transporters, and corrupt officials. The Umransgo incident has brought to light that illegal coal mining in the state is not confined to any specific area and must have been taking place in all proven coal-bearing areas. Widening the scope of the probe into the incident and terms of reference, including all illegal coal mining and illegal coal transportation, will bust the modus operandi of such coal syndicates. The amended MMDR Act has provisions for the setting up of special courts for the purpose of providing speedy trials of offences relating to illegal mining/transportation/storage, which needs to be leveraged to curb illegal mining. The application of space technology to curb illegal coal mining has led to the development of the Mining Surveillance System (MSS) by the Ministry of Mines through the Indian Bureau of Mines. The MSS is a satellite-based monitoring system that generates and issues alerts to state governments whenever suspected activities are detected within a 500-metre radius of mining leases. Monitoring of coal transportation in the state needs to be strengthened so that unauthorised consignments can be detected. Curbing of illegal coal mining can be possible only when all such consignments are traced to their mining sites. Accountability must be fixed on erring government and police officials who allowed such consignments from unauthorised mines to pass through to effectively curb illegal coal mining.