Report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel - Part II : Actionable points for the WGEA : 2.7 Mining :

Opinion
       02/12/2018
                1581.

SUB : Report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel - Part II : Actionable points for the WGEA : 2.7 Mining :

REF : 2.7 Mining :

All of the six states of the Western Ghats have important mineral deposits, both major and mineral. The most important of the major minerals are iron ore, manganese and bauxite. The region is also rich in rare earths and sands (see Appendix 2). Mining activity, especially of iron ore, has increased steeply since 2002 in response to the rise in mineral prices. This is especially so in the case of Goa and Karnataka. When earlier an average Fe content of 55 was the cut off for iron ore, today this is 40. Many environmental clearances (EC) have been sought and given in the last few years in Western Ghat States; however, no attention has been given to cumulative impacts of such activity. In 2010, a moratorium on new ECs for Goa was declared by the Minister for Environment and Forests in response to the people’s demand for the same. In Tamil Nadu and Kerala, sand is being mined in huge amounts for construction purposes causing a number of environmental and social issues. ‚Floodplain mining is severe in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Thrissur, districts. Mining of sand from back waters and beaches is common all along the coastal area.‛ (Padmalal, 2011, WGEEP Commissioned paper)

2.7.1 - Issues of Concern :

Mining activity creates considerable negative externalities which are not sufficiently addressed. It is often ground water intensive and environmentally degrading. Forests and biodiversity are lost or degraded along with precious ecological services (including buffering capacities for climate regulation). Surface water stretches are affected as a result of dump run off or due to ore transport when riverborne. Air pollution is considerable both from operations as well as through fugitive dust from ore transport. Often, mining activity occurs close to wild life sanctuaries (WLS). In Goa for example, 31 leases are within 2 km of a WLS of which 7 are working mines; 13 leases are within 1 km of a WLS.
Social impacts too are several: health impacts of polluted water and air; lost agricultural livelihoods; displacement; accidents on roads and water insecurity as mining sucks out well
water from the adjoining areas. Many of these environmental and social impacts do not get reflected when one hears of the value that mining contributes to the gross domestic product.

Illegal mining is observed in many parts of the Western Ghats, both in terms of no clearances obtained, fraudulent EIAs and/or flouting of conditions of clearances, An emerging view is that the agent (government) does not fully reflect the interest of the principal (the people). The view is also emerging that there exists government collusion with industry (Goa, Sindudurg, Ratnagiri, Bellary in Western Ghat states). This state of affairs has led to enormous disaffection in the states regarding mining activity. The strongest evidence of this disaffection and anger is in the state of Goa.

The Panel was confronted with some questions from stakeholders that require reflection and action:

 Why should mining not be banned to arrest the further loss of cultural and biological diversity and destruction of the ecology of the Western Ghats?
 Why should mining be privileged over other land, waterways, forests and groundwater uses/users?
 How have/are the intergenerational questions around mineral depletion been addressed?
 Why is there so much illegal mining? Who is doing anything about it?
 What about the corruption at all levels of jurisdiction?

2.7.2 - Measures for Mitigation/Improvement :

Exclusion of mining from ecologically sensitive areas/zones -

 No mining should be allowed in the Western Ghats in:

 Current protected areas, i.e., National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries as per current Supreme Court orders and the Wildlife Act 1972 provisions, and

 In regions of high sensitivity, i.e. ESZ1, as demarcated by the WGEEP for the states of the Western Ghats.

 All Environmental Clearances for mines in these areas should have an additional conditionality requiring for 25% reduction in mining every year till 2016, when mining has to be stopped in ESZ1.

 In EZ2 of the Western Ghats, current mining may be allowed but no new mining. Mining to be subject to strong environmental and social controls

 In other areas of the Western Ghats, mining may be allowed but subject to the FCA and other clearances and strong environmental and social controls in place as discussed below

 For mining within the Western Ghats, cumulative EIAs must be made mandatory rather than entertaining EIAs for individual leases in the same areas.

 There may be some areas that are claimed to be ecologically very sensitive but have not appeared so from the WGEEP demarcation exercise. The precautionary principle should be applied to such areas and mining must be banned for at least the next five years until reputed institutions complete the study of biodiversity and evaluate the actual level of ecological sensitivity.

Action Point : Ecological Sensitive Zones to be declared by the MOEF under EPA with different conditionalities

2.7.3 - Mineral Extraction Control :

 Close all mines that have been extracting ore beyond the limits allowed by their given environmental clearances

 Introduce an Fe cut off for iron ore that reflects environmental and social concerns to prevent the current observed rush to mine

 Close all mines that violate norms set out by the Zonal Atlas of the States

 Cancel all working and non-working leases in ESZ1s as proposed by WGEEP

 Mining leases in Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks to be permanently cancelled

 Mining leases in the catchment area of dams used for drinking water to be terminated

Rules for Sand mining (Padmalal, 2011) :

 Sand mining to be audited; introduce sand mining holidays on stretches of rivers

 Aggregate management should be considered separately from river management

 Separate legislations are required for the purpose

 Examine and encourage alternatives to river sand for construction purposes

 Necessary steps are to be taken to promote regeneration of natural riparian vegetation in areas hit by anthropogenic interferences along the river and tributary banks

 The developmental and infrastructural activities in the riparian areas should be carried out only after proper Environmental Impact Assessments by a competent authority.

2.7.4 - Action Point : Constitute a Mining Monitoring sub-committee of WGEA

1. Protection of ground water from mining impacts :

2. Regulation of conjunctive production of minerals and ground water :

 For mines currently operating below the water table, it should be mandatory for the company to have plans in place for ground water management and use that will not affect local wells and water supply

 Without water mapping, no mining should be allowed to commence

 Offsets should be mandatory, for example through rain water harvesting

 No mining should be allowed below the water table level of the area if geological or other factors do not allow improved practices
Ground water management in mining areas

 More studies and more data to be generated on ground water in the mining areas, both from an anthropocentric and an ecological point of view

 Conduct a study to examine the practice of industry on mining discharge

 More data sharing regarding ground water and collaboration between departments in order to tackle this issue, specifically the Indian Bureau of Mines and the National Institute of Hydrology.

 Create a PPP with Municipal water supply and industry to ensure piped water supply to all villages in mining regions within a maximum time frame of two years

 The suitability of abandoned or exhausted pits as water storage sites could be evaluated, provided forest land is not involved since the law requires forest land to be restored to forest.
Actionable Point: A special cell within WGEA to deal with ground water issues :

1. Planning for regeneration of agriculture in mining areas

2. Needs to done at the watershed or micro-watershed level.

This would include :

 Intensive dump management of all dumps within the micro-watershed

 Desilting of water bodies from the upper reaches to the bottom of the micro-watershed and treatment of the drainage network to minimise transport of silt (eg. lose boulder check dams)

 Desilting of fields and/or application of soil amendments

 Attending to issues of desiccation and loss of water

 Participatory planning and management

 Coordination by all regulatory and development authorities
Incentivising improved environmental behavior in the mineral sector

 Environmental education

 Indicators to track environmental performance

 Green accounting at the state level (impact adjusted income accounts)

 Market instruments to create incentives

 Compensation for forest preservation in resource rich states

 Immediate adoption of a system of Rehabilitation Bonds or other financial assurances as required under the Mineral Concession Rules.
Improving health in mining regions

 Improve surveillance and monitoring of diseases and disorders and provision of relief and rehabilitation for people affected by mining. Mining companies should be asked to have a health insurance policy for people in mining regions.

 Increased education on health disorders through Panchayat–NGO partnerships

 Get mining to partner with Panchayats and Primary health centres to provide both diagnostics and treatments that are industry-linked

 Reduce air pollution in road corridors/waterways

 Immediate enforcement of clearance conditions to stop overloading of trucks and barges :

o Mining companies need to formulate a ‚no-overloading‛ policy and ensure that it is adhered to by each of the trucks/barges working for them.
o Cancellation of mine/barge permits if violation is observed

 Tarpaulin covers to be mandatory for both barges and trucks

 Speed limits to be imposed and enforced

 Companies to be responsible for clean up of incremental pollution over and above what the government does for the taxes that it charges on road and barges

 Revision of transportation rates :

o mining companies need to keep the 10 tonne limit for current trucks in mind while calculating transportation rates

 No ore carrying trucks over 10 tonne limit should be allowed on public roads

Action Point : Constitute Mining Monitoring sub committee of WGEA

Addressing legacy of abandoned (orphaned) mines :

 Dedicated resources to convert abandoned mines to productive assets

o This could be either through cess, or plan funds, or specific financial transfers

o Addressed through Public-Private Partnerships

Action Point : Constitute Mining Monitoring sub committee of WGEA

Investment in the mining region :

 Plan for closure: Convert closed mines to productive economic assets either for tourism or horticulture

 Set up Minerals Foundation (as in Goa) which should work out a detailed plan to invest in region to provide common facilities
 Invest in micro-plans for villages affected by mining

2.7.5 -Action Point: Constitute Mining Monitoring sub committee of WGEA

Better practices in mining3 :

 Air pollution control measures, including use of low carbon emitting equipment and improved energy efficient practices.

 Pollution control measures, including wheel washing system at every exit of the mine.

 Stabilization of dumps with geotextiles and arresting of silt

3 see Kalavampara, 2010 for more suggestions

 Adopting more scientific mining technology from time to time.

 Working preferably to demineralise one part of mine and concurrent backfilling system to be adopted so as to accommodate waste rocks within mining lease wherever applicable.

 Scientific methods to be adopted for dump stabilization and erosion control.

 Work with grasses only and shrubs for dumps which will control erosion better and quicker if dump material is to be used for backfilling

 Proper drainage and settling arrangements before surface runoff is let out in surrounding water bodies.

Box 10: Regulated Mining Model proposed by Shri D V Kesarkar, M.L.A., Savantwadi, Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra 

As the elected representative of this area and having a practical experience of both fields, I would like to suggest the following model for mining operations in the district and especially for my constituency. I am sure you will consider the proposal positively in the interest of this region.

1. Only one site should be sanctioned in one village.

2. There should be control on production of minerals on a yearly basis (one mining season).

3. In case of iron ore, 2 hectares of land per year or depending on condition of the land should be allowed for the excavation.

4. Multipit system and a controlled production system should be utilized for mining in Sindhudurg.

5. Not more than 10 hectares should be used as a dumping ground, The rejection should be properly staged and hydro-seeding process should be utilized for making the dump into a green plantation using local varieties of plants, especially fruit-bearing plants and other important plants which are ecologically suitable for that area.

6. At the end of completion of excavations of the minerals, the pit should be refilled with rejected soil from the second pit. The process should be continued so that at the end of 5th year the area utilized should not be more than 20 hectares. At the end of the entire operation only one pit which will act as water storage area along with plantations on all the benches should be developed.

7. The local community should be given a stake-holder status in the project by offering them financial benefits by the following method. 2.5 percent of the market value of the gross production should go to the land holder and villagers of the said area as the compensation of earning they have lost. Another 2.5 percent should be spent on infrastructure of the village including plantation of trees, water supply, building of new roads, construction of schools, distance service, street lights, gardens, play parks, etc. out of which a minimum of 25 % should be utilized for ecological improvement of the region. A further 2.5 percent should be kept as reserve for the future, which is to be utilized after closure of the industry. The utilization of this reserved funds could be decide by the WGEEP on the lines of Norwegian model. Based on the present market trade and production capacity of 2 million tones from the 2 hectare pit, each village will get Rs. 45 crores per annum.

8. Sindhudurg being a tourism district also having good green coverage, and being rich in biodiversity, the following precautions have to be taken: while sanctioning any proposal especially regarding the iron ore deposits which are either to be exported or processed in the industrial zone, the area should be properly identified in the regional plan. A mechanical system for transportation of the mineral either in the form of slurry or powder should be used. The slurry could be transported in pipelines and the powder or the lumps can be transported through a closed conveyer belt system or in closed containers which could be transported on a ropeway. This will reduce the pollution created by road transportation by dust and carbon emission.

9. The systems should be developed either individually or entire mine operators could be combined to erect the required infrastructure. This point could be discussed among the entrepreneurs who are willing to set up their unit and the WGEEP committee, and a suitable technical solution could be arrived at. Only those companies who are interested and ready to invest the required large amounts in infrastructure, including inputs regarding the conservation of ecology, should be allowed to engage in mining operations in the district.

10. As suggested in the summary draft report of the study tour, small hydro-electricity projects should be promoted in the area and the excess available water after generation of electricity could be utilized for providing water to the farmers for agri-horticultural use in the area where mining activity will take place. In few cases because of the mining pits the ground water level goes down. In such cases the farming activity in the said area will not get affected because of the small dams. For example, a small dam in Phukeri village can produce electricity and give water to villages like Asaniye, Zolambe, Talkat, etc. Modern technology like drip irrigation can be used for proper utilization of the water. The company should bear the cost of the hydro-electricity generation project. A drip irrigation system could be subsidized through government schemes and the funds made available through the company for village infrastructure.

11. It should be made compulsory for the companies to fence the entire operation area around the project by constructing a 2.5 meter high wall so that no animals are affected by the operations carried out inside the enclosed mining area.

12. The movement of trucks and other machinery should be restricted within this compound wall, and the operation should take place only between sunrise to sunset.

13. Proper precautions should be taken that during the operations, the dust is controlled by using the latest technique of spraying water on the entire area. Also adequate tree plantation should be done along the project area which will act as a barrier for sound pollution, if any.

14. Before starting any operation in any area a proper survey of plants in the area of operation should be made and a nursery should be established for transplantation and ex-situ conservation.

15. The sacred grove (dev rai) should be protected in each village; the management for conservation of the dev rai should be entrusted to the local communities for which the expenditure could be made by CSR of the company.

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NEXT : 2.8 Power and Energy :

To be continued ..

JAIHIND
VANDE MATARAM

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