The Dark Earth: Coal Mining and Tribal Lives of Jharkhand

OutlookIndia

Mining in Jharkhand has not just uprooted villages, it has uprooted forests on an even larger magnitude. Its impact can be easily understood by the imbalance caused in the seasons. State capital Ranchi and the plateaus of Latehar and Gumla were among the cities that were known as hill stations, but now even these pockets are experiencing intense heat waves.  In Ramgarh and Hazaribagh districts, there are many such coal mines that have uprooted hundreds of Dalit and Adivasi villages. It is difficult to make a count of the total number of villages across Jharkhand that have been destroyed by the mines. According to a report by the Indian Council of Social Science Research, 1.5 million people have been displaced in the country between 1951 and 1995 due to mining and other development projects. There is no precise data available after this.  Reporter: Md Asghar Khan  Camera: Vikram Sharma  Producer/Editor: Divya Tiwari   Read the story: https://www.outlookindia.com/national/the-dark-earth-how-unchecked-mining-is-uprooting-lives-in-jharkhand  Follow us: Website: https://www.outlookindia.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Outlookindia Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outlookindia/ X: https://twitter.com/Outlookindia Whatsapp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaNrF3v0AgWLA6OnJH0R Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OutlookMagazine Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/outlookindia  #Jharkhand #MiningImpact #CoalMines #ForestLoss #ClimateChange #HeatWaves #EnvironmentalJustice #DalitRights #AdivasiRights #Displacement #CoalMining #Deforestation #SustainableDevelopment

Transcript

00:00This village is situated in the Mandu block of Ramgarh district.

00:06This village is surrounded by mines.

00:10Before the mines, people used to do a lot of farming here.

00:17Since the mining has started, all the farming has stopped.

00:30There are dozens of coal mines between Ramgarh and Hazaribagh, which have destroyed hundreds of Dalit and tribal settlements.

00:43When we talk about Jharkhand, it is difficult to count the tribal villages destroyed by bauxite, coal, iron ore.

00:51The second biggest impact of mining is on the climate here.

00:56The climate here has completely changed.

00:59The trees have been cut down and the forest has become barren.

01:06Earlier, we used to get fresh air.

01:08Now, the forest is also being destroyed.

01:10And because of the mining, the forest and land are being destroyed.

01:20Bauxite is being mined on the Gubla side of Netarhat.

01:24Bauxite is a tree that is worshipped by the tribal people on the day of Sarhol.

01:30There is no other reason for worshipping it.

01:33There is no part of bauxite that is not used.

01:37From its roots to the wood, from the trunk to the flowers and fruits,

01:44and even the flesh that comes out of it.

01:48And this is the biggest challenge for the ecology.

01:53This year was a high-level year, which was full of Netarhat Plateau.

01:59Because of this, it used to be cool.

02:03And because of this coolness, when the southwest monsoon comes here from Chhattisgarh,

02:11it pulls the clouds a lot.

02:14There used to be rain.

02:16Now, in the mining, the biggest enemy is the sal.

02:21You threw it away.

02:24The whole area has become desert-like.

02:27And you will lose water.

02:30You will lose rain.

02:32So, the climate of Netarhat, the entire climate, is changing because of the deforestation of salt.

02:46The people of Chhattisgarh have lost their livelihoods due to the deforestation of salt.

02:53Gradually, in our village, people have also started complaining about the deforestation.

02:58In the past, the climate was cool, even in the summer.

03:01Now, all this deforestation has killed so many people in the village.

03:10The people here have lived for 60 years with difficulty.

03:15No one has been able to live for more than 60 years.

03:18The reason is that people are dying from TB.

03:22Many people have lost their lives due to TB.

03:25Some people are not even 15 years old.

03:27Some people are not even 18 years old.

03:29And they are dying from TB.

03:31The fire next to us is emitting a lot of poisonous gas.

03:34The gas that emits causes difficulty in breathing.

03:37There are a lot of problems due to this.

03:39It is difficult to breathe.

03:46Due to mining, everyone is facing problems.

03:49Everyone is suffering because of the lease.

03:52If it rains now, it will be difficult to come and go.

03:56In the sunny days, the dust that flies, there is a problem.

03:59It gets into the umbrella, the water, and the utensils.

04:08We are facing all kinds of problems.

04:11We are facing all kinds of problems.

04:14If the lease ends, everything will be fine.

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