An honest socioeconomic and environmental public audit of extractive industries in Odisha can prove how the local residents of the mineral bearing areas are deprived of a fair share in the profits of the corporates in the mining business and they wallow under poverty and backwardness. It is said that minerals are national wealth and the power to extract minerals lies with the Union Government and to that effect, the Central legislations have been framed. The power of the State and local people has been restricted to share of royalty only in those laws. Royalty is a minuscule percentage of the value of minerals. Odisha, as a major mineral producing State, fulfils the domestic demand and exports, but in return, Odisha remains a poor and backward State and continues to demand the status of a special category State.
The mineral bearing areas remain the most backward areas without basic infrastructure and basic amenities. The mining owners are either the Central Government, MCL, Nalco, NTPC, SAIL etc or private companies, mostly non-Odias, such as graphite mines, mostly owned by Agrawals, without a corporate office here in Odisha and having no interest in the State's development. The Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) is the only exception.
The freight policy of the Union Government in post-independent India was not favourable for mineral-bearing States such as Odisha to set up mineral-based industries and make end products here to generate employment and income. Rather, the minerals were just sold out outside. As a result, less mineral bearing States have more industries. The trend should not continue; rather plans should be made to set up industries to make the end products directly linked to the consumer market with use of selective strategic minerals such as bauxite, iron and chrome. The production of these minerals must be capped to limit its use for only domestic purposes. Private industries must not be encouraged much for extraction.
The OMC should be the sole mining company for extraction of all types of minerals in the State. However, in the case of coal, the State should not have more thermal power plants to supply electricity to other States. Unfortunately, when there is a move to phase out coal burning in a number of countries, the Union Government has expanded thermal power plants in Odisha to supply power to other States.
This pit-mouth based thermal industry has impacted hugely on the local population's life and living environment. The local people are displaced twice and are already facing water, air and soil pollution and mostly the agriculture ecosystem has changed, posing a threat to local food security. The change in agriculture has been largely affecting the farmers of the State with a wider ramification over common masses.
Along with huge deforestation, the local temperature level has gone high. There is a big question mark on the future of the locals as the companies and Government have no long-term mitigation plan to save the locals like they meticulously follow their expansion business plans for profit.
The people of Odisha must have a holistic understanding of the situation, but different interest groups have selective arguments over the issues, such as the regional parties only pushing the agenda of increasing royalty for overall State’s interest, some organisations are more environmentally focused and the trade unions in mining areas support the ongoing expansion with a demand for wage hike without raising any concern for locals’ displacement and environment issues. Above all, the financial resources generated out of mining and its sharing also need to be discussed in the public domain to make it beneficial to all the affected communities.
The issues of mining need to be understood in a larger framework of political economy linking people of all sections and the issues should not be tagged as local or tribal specific. This must be part of a larger debate over democratisation of resources and peoples' rights over resources for development in a backward State such as Odisha.
Why, in spite of resources, Odisha remains backward and its majority of people remain poor in comparison to other States having no minerals. Similarly, why mineral bearing areas have been underdeveloped for a long time and especially the marginalised sections are not being integrated in the local development. The corporate lead development has proved to be non -inclusive of its local people.
Justice MB Shah Commission of inquiry on illegal mining of iron ore and manganese in Odisha in 2013 reported that if the value of public natural resources such as iron ore for only one year is given to the tribal families of Sundargarh and Keonjhar for their upliftment, the tribal would become rich approximately by Rs 9,43,000 per family.
This was based on the calculation of the production and sales value of iron ore in the year 2009-2010. But unfortunately, the tribals, farmers, Dalits and other communities of all mineral bearing areas are the poorest people because the mining income has not been shared with them, rather they are marginalised and uprooted by the operation of extractive industries. The plight of the Juanga tribe in the chrome valley of Sukinda, where the poorest households have no basic minimum for survival, is a burning example of how injustice is meted out to the local residents in the mining areas of Odisha. Anyone visiting the mining areas of Odisha can witness the plight of local people and the situation of the local environment. The farmers' movement, tribal movement, trade unions and all other movements for peoples' rights and equality must demand to get a fair share of income from minerals.
Every community has the right to development and to get a fair share of natural resources available in their locality. The Union and State Governments must recognise these natural rights of the people. The approach of development must be environmentally sustainable and inclusive of its people, especially the people in mineral bearing areas who directly suffer because of extractive industries near their habitations. (manasbbsr15@Gmail.com)
