Issues of Sustainable Development in the Mines and Minerals Sector in India

Abstract

India, the third largest economy in the world, has shown phenomenal growth in the last decade or so, but is often criticized for its skewed development. This fact is glaring in the mineral-rich states of east-central India where the tribal population in the mining belts of Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh suffer from grinding poverty and malnutrition under a low Human Development Index. It raises a vital question: in rich land with poor people, is sustainable mining possible? We look into this complex socioeconomic and industrial challenge in this concluding chapter in terms of the vital things at stake: natural resources, people, culture and livelihoods, forests and wildlife, water resources, environmental and ecological integrity, and finally the issue of land acquisition for mining. The various issues have snow-balled and affected many large mining projects with very large FDI components. The problem is exacerbated by rampant and large-scale illegal mining of bulk minerals, including coal, which has forced courts to step in and ban iron ore mining in parts of Goa, Karnataka, and Odisha. Environmental degradation and inter-generational equity issues have also been raised by the judiciary to impose the ban. Natural resource utilization is an essential prerequisite for industrial development, and therefore, the three stakeholders, consumers, industry, and government, must join hands to pursue mining under a sustainable development framework which involves scientific mining, environmental protection and mitigation, community stakeholders’ engagement, local socioeconomic development along with a high degree of transparency, and accountability. A proper mine closure plan should also be an integral part of any mining proposal. Ecosystem management in a mining area should also be an equally important remedial measure when mining ceases. The other important aspects of sustainability in mining also need to be highlighted. Geogenic toxic elements which are released during mining into the ground and surface waters, like CrVI in the Sukinda valley in Odisha, have severe adverse effect on human health. Besides, acid mine drainage may be generated from waste rocks, tailing dumps, open pits, and abandoned underground mines of sulfidic ores and flow into rivers, streams, or lakes. Their negative effects need to be controlled and neutralized. Biological techniques are useful in this regard. Heap leaching of low-grade ores, of Cu for example, has the potentiality for acid water generation too. Cement plants are known to be the worst polluters, both in terms of cement dust and limestone mining. However, situation seems to be improving in modern plants. In the energy front, coal is a necessary evil generating a large part of thermal power but contributing to the global carbon emission and is thus responsible for global warming through greenhouse gas enhancement in the atmosphere. Oil and natural gas, absolutely essential commodities, are potent sources of environmental pollution right from exploration through production, refining, transportation, and use. Uranium ores also affect the environment when the radioactive metal is released into mine water, or is present in effluent of the ore processing plant and tailing dams and is finally passed on to the hydrologic system. Subsequently, it may enter the food chain and serve as a potential carcinogen. Nuclear energy production itself still has challenges of sustainable development as indicated by the recent disaster in Japan. Equally challenging is the issue of nuclear waste management.