Out Of The Legal Hole

There is no such thing as environmentally acceptable and safe rat-hole coal mining and hence this primitive practice must be discontinued

- Chandra Bhushan

ANYONE WHO has seen a rat-hole coal mine up-close knew that the chance of survival of the 15 miners trapped in a mine at Ksan in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills was slim once the mine was flooded. I have been inside one of these mines and can tell you that it is beyond imagination how anyone can enter such a small space and mine coal with bare hands and rudimentary tools.

In 2011, my colleagues and I from the Centre for Science and Environment went to Meghalaya at the request of local activists to study the environmental impacts of rat-hole mines. We travelled across the state’s mining hotspots, collected data and tested water samples. We found inhuman working conditions, environmental destruction on a massive scale and gross illegalities perpetrated by miners in connivance with the state and local government.

A rat-hole mine comprises a deep vertical shaft with narrow horizontal tunnels, two to four feet in dimension, dug on its sides. Miners go into these horizontal tunnels for hundreds of feet to take out coal. Primitive tools are used to build and operate these mines and accidents are common and most are not reported.