Jharkhand Journal of Development and Management Studies XISS, Ranchi, Vol. 16, No.4, December 2018, pp. 7869-7886

DEMYSTIFYING ‘GREEN’ IN IRON MINING: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY AMONG THE HO OF JHARKHAND

Rajanikant Pandey1

This study recapitulates the environmental impacts of iron mining in Noamundi, West Singhbhum, Jharkhand, to reflect upon the existing political ecology of corporate environmental management and concomitant ecological concerns and negotiations of local Ho tribe. The study recognized that, historically, Ho and their relationships with natural environment have shaped a specific indigenous mode of existence in this densely forested land. The mining development has transformed the Ho territory into a capitalistic ‘resource frontier’ by steadily changing the socio- ecological way of living. The study discusses the environmental management practices of Tata Steel, the oldest mining company in the region, to understand its role in local political ecology. It was found that the corporate environmental management discipline of the company is dedicated towards operating, achieving, and projecting the goal of so-called ‘green mining’. However, the recent pace of unregulated mining boom has irreversibly damaged the ecological associations of people with land, forest, and water. The study identifies that Ho traditional mode of existence has shown resilience and capacity to survive amidst the ecological perturbations. Furthermore, Ho has learned to negotiate with the moral politics and rhetoric surrounding corporate environmental management and ‘green mining’. This inquiry critically demystifies the corporate oxymoron of ‘green mining’ and its promises for sustainable development in Jharkhand.

Keywords : Mining, Corporate Environmental Management, Land, Forest, Ho

Introduction The idioms of corporate environmental management (CEM) propagated and practiced by mining corporations in order to pursue sustainable business has been a subject of discussion, more so after the implementation of Company’s Act, 2013 by the Ministry of Corporate affairs, Government of India. For this pursuit, this paper examines the political ecology of one iron mining site in Noamundi, West Singhbhumin Ho tribal region of Jharkhand, to reflect upon the ongoing negotiations of corporate environmental management practices, everyday politics of resource extraction and concomitant socio-ecological concerns of the Ho tribe. The Noamundi town portrays an interesting overlap of forests, ‘indigenes’, and minerals and provides an interesting

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Tribal Studies, Central University of Jharkhand, Brambe, Ranchi-835205, Mobile No: 9971923318, E-mail: [email protected]

7869 7870 Pandey field context to understand the ecological footprints of the mining industry on tribal life over the period of time and to infer the role of extractive corporations in managing and maintaining the local environment. Against this backdrop, the present study examines the role of a ‘virtuous corporation’ Tata Steel, the oldest mining company in the region, pertaining to the environmental cost of mining. The paper firstly describes the history of mining and how it transformed the Ho territory into a capitalistic ‘resource frontier’ changing the identity of space as technocratic ‘iron-belt’. Then, the paper discusses the corporate environmental management practices of Tata steel for achieving the goal of corporate sustainability and ‘green mining’. Further, it talks about the impact of mining on local ecology and how it has been conceived and corroborated by people in terms of their ecological and economic existence. The paper towards the end identifies in how people have shown resilience and capacity to survive amidst mining perturbations in this ecological terrain and has learned to negotiate with the moral politics surrounding corporate environmental management. With this descriptive backdrop, the paper in conclusion critically demystifies the corporate oxymoron of ‘green mining’ and its potential for sustainable development in Jharkhand.

Literature Review A systematic review of literature on resource extraction industry depicts that ethnographic writing on mining has a strong tradition. Anthropologists (Powdermaker, 1962; Nash, 1979; Taussig, 1980; Robinson, 1986; Simmons, 1989; Godoy, 1991; Finn, 1998; Ferguson, 1999) have variously dealt with the mining industry in the past. These efforts, however, remained at the margin of discipline and did not gain much prominence. However, today a good number of monographs (see Bainton 2010; Rajak 2011; Finn, 2012; Kirsch, 2014; Golub, 2014; Smith, 2014; Li, 2015; Jacka, 2015; O’Faircheliagh, 2015; Sawyer, 2004; Shever, 2012; Stewart and Strathern, 2014; Welker, 2014) dealing with emerging complexities of mining have appeared. The books by Dinah Rajak (2011) and Marina Welker (2014) coming from two sides of the Atlantic and representing Africa and Oceania are focusing on the emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the Mining industry. New ethnographies of extraction bring the issues of environment and ecologically dependent communities promptly to the fore (Pandey, 2015). No ethnographic works have, however, explicitly focused on corporate environmental management practices in the mining industry and its impact upon local communities. The ethnographic literature on mining in the Indian context is completely silent on this issue. Demystifying ‘Green’ in Iron Mining: An Ethnographic Study 7871

D. N. Majumdar, championed the ethnographic study of the Ho and published, A Tribe in Transition (1937) followed by The Affairs of A Tribe (1950), based on his series of fieldwork in the Kolhan region of then Bihar for almost 25 years. Das Gupta (1978) presented a study of change due to industrialization among Ho of Singhbhum. Misra (1987) in a crisp monograph examined structural change among Ho’s living in Orissa (Odisha), adding a regional perspective to existing literature. There are fantastic historical writings about Ho presenting colonial past of Ho society and culture (Sen, 2011; 2017; 2018; Das Gupta, 2011). More works on the Ho describing political structure (Yorke, 1976), religion and social transformations (Verardo, 2003), forest and environment (Hebbar, 2003), forest commons and natural resource conflicts (Sareen, 2015) etc. by social scientists have also appeared. There are very few studies which deal with the Noamundi region in the context of mining. In a collaborative project on the mining industry, Choudhury and Das Gupta (1970) conducted a preliminary survey of iron ore mines like Noamundi, Barajmda, and Gua of Singhbhum region of the south Bihar (Present West Singhbhum of Jharkhand). To understand the occupational structure in the nearby villages, Barajamda and Khasjamda hamlets were studied and it was found that tribals have adopted a dual economy of industrial work in mines and agricultural work in the field to support their families (Das Gupta, 1991). Few independent researchers have reflected upon mining situations in this region in relation to Ho tribals (Areeparampil, 1999; George, 2009; 2015). The various social responsibility activities of Tata Steel Rural Development Society (TSRDS) have been surveyed by Prasad and Kumar (2015) reflecting upon impact of CSR works related with health, education, environment, drinking water, infrastructure, agriculture and empowerment through culture, sports and skill training in around 46 villages of Noamundi and Jagnnathpur Block. The CSR activities of Tata Mines are widely reported in local newspapers and covered in depth by Tata’s virtual media platforms. The ideas, concept and analytical frameworks from these set of literature are weaved into the data descriptions and analysis and have also been employed throughout the discussions and conclusion of this paper.

Objectives This study attempts to empirically examine the CEM practices in mining industry to discern its impact on local tribal population and how it is being perceived, contested and negotiated by local communities in everyday life. The theoretical objective of present study is to critically analyze the CEM practices to demystify the oxymoronic myth of ‘green’ in extractive industry. 7872 Pandey

Methodology and sources of data In this ethnographic study, qualitative research design of understanding, interpreting and writing were primarily employed. The tools and techniques from ethnographic, environmental, business and historical modes of inquiries were used to situate this theoretical and methodological underpinning. The primary area of field study was Noamundi Community Development Block of West Singhbhum District of Jharkhand. However, the representative population for this ethnographic study comes from three Panchayats Noamundi Basti, Balijharan and Mahudi having population of 19,493 people of which around 50% is Ho indigenous tribe as per 2011 census. Gitillor village of Noamundi Basti Panchayat was decided as a major village for the present field research. The sub-villages like Noamundi Basti, Mahudi, Balijharan, Toretoppa, Mundasai, and Duccasai villages were frequently visited during the entire duration of 8 months fieldwork in the year 2016-17. Having defined the universe, theoretical sampling was applied to reach the individual informants. In total, 120 people were interviewed from Ho village affected by mining activities. The other caste communities like Muslim, Poddar, Soy, Gupta, Burman, Majhi, Tanti, Karuwa, Oraon, Bengali, Odhiya, Brahmins, Gop, Gwala, Gond, Luhara have also been interviewed. Some informants like mining activists, NGO people and forest department officials etc. were selected purposefully and as per demands of research objectives. The secondary data used has come from published reports, print and virtual media, and the Tata Steel’s website. Findings and analysis The mining town of Noamundi is ecologically situated in the Saranda forest—a dense forest spreading over 80,000 hectares in the West Singhbhum district. This forest is considered to be the largest Sal (Sorearobusta) forest in Asia, where at least 36,000 Ho tribals also reside. These tribals collect minor forest produce like Sal leaves and seeds, Mahua (Bassialatifolis), and Kusum (Sechloiohoratrijuga); they also carry out small-scale rice farming depending on the rainfall. Local Ho community has penetrated in the dense forests and made this difficult and densely arboreal terrain their abode in last six century (see Streumer, 2016; Sen, 2011; Das Gupta, 2011). The area has the largest single deposit of iron ore, approximately 2,000 million tons, which constituted around 25% of the known iron ore deposits in the country. Nearly 90 % of the state’s iron minerals are located in this area. These iron ore reserves are exploited by more than 20 mining companies, who occupied mining leases on 23,747 hectares (28%) of Saranda (Dungdung, 2015).Since the pre-Independence days, the region Demystifying ‘Green’ in Iron Mining: An Ethnographic Study 7873 has witnessed the mining based industrial establishment, which has brought with it concomitant ill effects; the worst of which is the devastation of the natural environment (George, 2015).

Making of a resource frontier How did tribal Ho land transformed into Iron-belt (Lauhanchal) and a place full of red dust? The reason behind the transformation could be understood from the anthropologist Tsing’s (2003; 2005) idea of making of a ‘resource frontier’. The development of resource extraction all over the world has given rise to resource frontiers of similar kinds. In these frontiers, capitalist production has subsumed the traditional economy within its fold, which in turn created challenges for local subsistence based economies. According to Tsing (2003), “...resource frontiers grew up where entrepreneurs and armies were able to disengage nature from its previous ecologies, making the natural resources that bureaucrat and generals could offer as corporate raw material. From a distance, these new resource frontiers appeared as the ‘discovery’ of global supplies in forests, tundras, coastal seas, or mountain fastnesses. Up close, they replaced existing systems of human access and livelihood and ecological dynamics of replenishment with the cultural apparatus of capitalist expansion”(p. 5101).These “frontiers are conceived as relational zones of economy, nature and society; spaces of capitalist transition, where new forms of social property relations and systems of legality are rapidly established in response to market imperatives. Customary property rights on the resource frontier can be seized by powerful actors in crucial political moments, preparing the territorial stage for more intensive phases of resource commodity production and accumulation”(Barney, 2009, p. 146).The making of resource frontier in Singhbhum has occurred in last hundred years. In the early years of the 20th century, under the tutelage of Jamshedji Tata—the man on mission to establish the first steel manufacturing company of India—geologists vigorously surveyed the central Indian forests and hills for metal and mining treasures. These geologists identified Mayurbhanj State and the neighboring Kolhan Estate as the potential sites and convinced the British administration for prospective work in the region (Mukherjee, 2008).The company decided that Sakchi and Kalamati—the two tribal villages at the bank of Subernrekha—as the potential sites for setting up the manufacturing unit. In 1907, Tata and Sons established the Tata Iron and Steel Company at Sakchi (now Jamshedpur).Tata Iron and Steel Works wrote in its prospectus that ‘‘the natives in the surrounding were accustomed for centuries past to the manufacture of iron in their primitive ways, and they could provide adequate labour’’ (Kumar, 2017, p. 32). Later, 24 other tribal villages’ lands were taken on lease for infrastructure 7874 Pandey development and it was argued that CNT Act, 1908, was not passed till Tata acquired the land. This helped in converting a tribal hinterland into a resource frontier. The discovery of the prospective mining areas for iron ore became a routine activity in a land of subsistence cultivation and foraging. Tata commenced iron ore mining at Noamundi in 1925. The place was surveyed in 1917, and it was established that the land contained iron ore of high quality, which led to the beginning of deforestation and clearing of land. To speed up the process and avoid official delay in informing the state office, the company appointed Mohussin (supervisor) as well as paid his wages and allowances (Kumar, 2017). The supervisor was supposed to take the measurements of trees and permit its cutting as desired by the local mining manager. He was given authority to carry out the measurements and to issue instant permit for cutting ‘any tree necessary of whatever size within mining lease areas’ (Kumar, 2017, p. 32). It is estimated that from 1907 to 1926, around 237 acres of cultivated raiyati lands in Noamundi were converted into extensive open cast iron mining areas (Kumar, 2017). These were parts of Ho Villages and consisted of gora land and pirkundi lands, which were not government-owned waste land. The compensation given to villagers was on the basis of 20 years old rates that were applied for the Bengal-Nagpur Railways land acquisition in 1890s (Kumar, 2017, p. 32). A special Kolhan Officer was deputed to supervise the smooth alienation of 700 families, who were made to migrate for providing land for Tata’s mining enclave. For mining of iron ore, the land was deforested and a ‘sanitary-reservoir’ was constructed on the perennial Nallah of adjacent village to provide drinking water for the mining laborers (Kumar, 2017). This was the beginning of passionate environmental journey of Tata Steel in the iron town, Noamundi. From this homeland of the Adivasis, the wealth of iron ore was expropriated to raise the Messers Tatas and Sons from an opium trader to a full- fledged monopoly capitalist of India. Before mining started in Noamundi, it was a ‘Ho’ territory (Hodesum), but now Tatas have a large township with massive mechanized mines that included processing plants and developing policy and practices of corporate environmental management to protect the natural habitat of the area.

Environmental management practices of Tata mines in Noamundi There are several other iron mining companies in Noamundi Block today, but Tata Steel is the biggest and oldest miner. The company engages in open cast, mechanized mining with the help of shovel dumper technology on a lease over 1160.06 hectare area. The environmental management at Noamundi has been demonstrated by the company Demystifying ‘Green’ in Iron Mining: An Ethnographic Study 7875 through its various advertisements, press releases, as well as billboards and hoardings. Tata Steel claims that “with a century of experience in mining”, they found that sustainable and responsible mining is fundamental to the ethos of company. They have a dedicated Raw Materials Division to “ensure safe, scientific, and efficient mining without causing any adverse effect on the environment” (Tata Steel, 2016). The Tata Company clearly outlines its promises of sustainable practices by dedicating a section of management for environmental issues. The Environmental Management department was founded in the year 1992 almost after 75 years of mining operations in Noamundi. The development of the department became necessary because environment has many contentious issues in mining frontiers. With the introduction of rigorous industrial and environmental laws, monitoring and feedback mechanism was established for complying with the legal matters. The operational benefit of sustainable practice was obviously triggered in becoming an efficient miner. CEM department is basically situated in core production management strategy and operations, which is related to the production unit of company. This is aligned with technical departments like energy, fuel and operations and is significant in the hierarchy of company’s disciplines. The environmental management department has engineers and technocrats, thus making environment based activities highly technical and core activity for achieving sustainable mining business. The technological input for cleaner and efficient production is one approach, which has emerged through the debate on mining and environment since the 90s (Bridge, 2004), and Tata Steel at Noamundi also demonstrate this in its published reports. The company ensures a “green world around its mines through reclamation and rehabilitation of mined land” (Tata Steel, 2016) for which a rigorous in-house plan has been outlined. It has always been maintained that grass and trees are planted on all inactive dumping slopes, slopes of embankments, and dams. However, activists from local civil society are quite apprehensive as “these grasses are neither good for man or animals. They cannot replace for natural forest”. The use of ground water is not allowed for mining operations and Tata steel Noamundi Mines comply with such rules. The mining operation happens on the hill slopes, and there is no intersection of ground water table. The company claims that water table is not being depleted in the mining operation and they fetch surface water from Baitarani river situated 20 Km from the mining site. The company does not obstruct any water course or water stream in the area of mining operation. Balijore Nallah, which is the only source of water in mining area, is cleaned properly and maintained by green embankments. However, the check dam of Aqua 7876 Pandey

Park and rain water harvesting units are in the route of the Nallah and these units have changed the natural course of water. This check dam is supposed to be constructed for cleaning the water by retaining suspended solids before the water mingles with the natural stream, but the Nallah is a very narrow lane of sluggish water. The Rain Water Harvesting System was constructed during 2010-11 to catch surface runoff water from hills and augment the ground water. The company is getting benefitted owing to reduced dependency on water from the Baitarani River. Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) established at Noamundi Hospital for treating the wastewater is using advanced ‘Moving Bed Bio Reactor’ technology with tube settler and sand media filter. It is planned that water treated and saved in the process will be used in the Botanical and Medicinal Garden. The company has maintained that “no national parks, wild life sanctuaries, elephant corridors and tiger reserves exist within a 10 kilometre radius of the core zone around Tata Steel’s operational locations” (Tata Steel, 2015), to avail environmental clearance. In Noamundi, the company has established Botanical Park, Medicinal Herbs Park, and Hibiscus Park. In 1991, they built Sir Dorabji Tata Botanical Park at a mined out area of 45 ha (Old Quarry). The park is well managed and lush green. Further, it is mentioned that about Rs.60 Lakhs is spent annually for maintenance and upkeep of the parks, gardens, and greeneries. The other ‘rare medicinal plant park’ at Noamundi is the only park of its kind in the state. A Butterfly Park was established in 2009 as a part of the Botanical Park, which has been described as “an oasis for sore eyes” by the company. This is the habitat of round 350 varieties of butterflies, and it is spread over 550 sq. ft. with conducive breeding environment for butterflies. Tata Steel has setup a dedicated Hibiscus park to enhance the biodiversity of the mining town. The park contains around 48 species of Hibiscus including Mallorca, Vellachery, Hawaii, and Moscheutos varieties. Another recreational park having colorfully painted flowering pots, terracotta models, earthen fixtures and artificial springs has been developed inside the Company Township near lower stream of Nallah. The name “Tata Steel” carved out in grass by skilled gardener is the most beautiful symbol of ‘corporate greening’ in Noamundi. The company has conducted scientific research in collaborations with institutions like CIMFR (Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research) , IIFM (Indian Institute of Forest Management), Calcutta University, and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur for keeping abreast in safe blasting practices, biological resources management, study on underground water quality, aquatic life, carbon sequestration, etc. The mineralogist from prestigious institutes like IIT Kharagpur is being engaged for monitoring and reporting on the Demystifying ‘Green’ in Iron Mining: An Ethnographic Study 7877 quality of air and water. They verify half-yearly reports on ground water quality and air pollution level that are prepared by company engineers. These reports are submitted as part of environmental compliance to Ministry of Environment, Forests Climate Change (MoEF & CC), and State Pollution Control Boards of Jharkhand, and Regional office of SPCB. The reports also address noise quality, effluent quality, annual environmental expenditure, and land cover map using scientific data. Tata Steel is the first integrated mill in India to get ISO 140001 certification for its best scientific practices toward environmental management. The Noamundi mining unit is also certiûed under ISO 14001. The company portrays itself as “a frontrunner in using advanced technologies” and so for monitoring and benchmarking carbon dioxide emission, they utilize advanced carbon accounting system (Moni CA). The company has maintained an IT platform for a centralized environmental database since 2012 (Tata Steel, 2016). Thus, as discussed above, Tata Company always reports project positive outcomes of mining on environment and ecologically dependent indigenous communities. Like all mining corporation Tata’s always deny any environmental harm by the logic known as the “conspiracy of optimism” (Hirt, 1994; Kirsch, 2014), wherein companies primarily refuse to acknowledge any potential harm or remain optimistic about resolving any possible ecological error caused by corporate practices. The corporate idea of ‘green mining’ and ‘sustainable extractive industry’ hinges upon the techno scientific researches and mechanical advances, which promises to correct the errors of the past, without any acknowledgement of community’s ecological sustenance. The mining companies strongly believe in ‘ecological modernization’ and deploy it for optimistically planning future mining activities. They believe that a team of trained technocrats could resolve any environmental problems caused by excessive mining. However, the experiences of the Ho people living in vicinity of mine are altogether different and they perceive the environmental impacts differently which has been discussed in following section.

Environmental impacts of iron mining on Ho tribe From outside, Noamundi town shows limited symptoms of industrial chaos and noise, as mining sites are surrounded by hills and forest. However, this distant observation is in contrast to people’s assessment and articulation of problems and irreversible effects of mining upon the local environment and communities. In this section, we discuss about the impact of iron mining on local environment and resources and the ways through which it has been conceived, conceptualized, and negotiated by local communities to uphold the survival of indigenous mode of existence. 7878 Pandey

Loss of Land The “Mine Eat Us, Agriculture Feed Us” (Khadan hum kokhatahaikhetihumko Khilata Hai) was the theme of a community protest, which depicted the understanding of tribal people regarding mining in their land. A precise estimate of the amount of agricultural land lost to mining in Noamundi is not readily available, but the villagers of Korta, who were displaced in early days of mining, have aggravated their social memory to describe their loss of land to mining. A local Ho man articulates strongly in personal conversation with researcher: “Villagers of Korta along with some other small hamlets were displaced from their actual settlement in 1927, without any legal agreements between people and miners. There was no rehabilitation policy, and they were not compensated for their land and house. They were not even rehabilitated and resettled by Tata Company. Since 90 years the mining is going on, and millions of tons of iron ore have been extracted, and crores of rupees have been made by Tatas, but we have got nothing. No job and no infrastructural facility were provided to the people since then. It was British period, and we were common village folks and were not aware of any displacement rule or agreements. Our ancestors left the village because of fear of blasting for extraction. They moved to different places like Masuligarha, Murga, and Gundijora. Five families which were granted permission of Munda of Gundijora have today converted into around 47 households of Gitillor Village.” The direct engagement of land in mining is very less land in comparison to the total land affected for other subsidiary purpose like conversion of land for mining site, development of roads, railways, and ropeways for mineral transport, building of townships for housing miners and manager, enhancement of infrastructure for administrative purposes, and availability of land for stockyard and preliminary processing operations. People assert that iron and other mining and allied activities in Noamundi has caused severe damage to the land resources of the area. Many mines have been abandoned without being covered and stabilized, and open pits are seen in the forest areas of Noamundi Block. Many of the villagers counter the claims made by company about the reclamation of land and abandoned mines. They retort that the reclamation is a false claim, as land once lost will never be as fertile as it used to be. In addition, the growing of foreign variety grass is not good for the local vegetation. Mining further affects the topography and soil cover in the area. Moreover, the digging of opencast mines has Demystifying ‘Green’ in Iron Mining: An Ethnographic Study 7879 resulted in the loss of fertile top soil, which cannot be scientifically achieved in the near future. The villagers are really worried about excessive dumping of overburden rock mass in the form of large heaps without the permission of gram-sabha. The soils removed for the mining and dumped elsewhere are of no use for villagers. The people think that with the loss of land, their life will also come to an end. The villagers have estimated that the agricultural production in the villages within a radius of about 10 kms. has gone down because of the damage caused by the red oxide dust emitted from the iron mines. The excess red water coming from mines generally wash away in the low lands, which causes a layer of 4-5 inch of red oxide dust over the top soil, thus making the land highly infertile. Moreover, the composition of the soil changes, some Gora lands have become completely uncultivable owing to air and water pollution. While conversing with the Ho, one of them working in the mines stated that mining is for time-being because they will have nothing to do with the end of iron ore. They prefer agriculture because the cultivation of rice can feed them forever. Air and Water Contamination and Scarcity The pervasiveness of red oxide dust is also polluting water bodies and air, which is resulting in the degradation of the quality of life for people living in the vicinity. People are critically informed about the side effects of red oxide dust and other kind of air pollution caused by iron mining in the area. Further, people claim that various lung and breathing diseases in Noamundi have increased because of excessive mining and pollution. According to the locals’ ‘social memory’, such kind of air pollution was not there during slow speed mining. But the reckless pace of mining has enormously magnified the mobility of transportation vehicles, which further enhanced air pollution. The water pollution is very obvious outcome of mining, and the affected villagers are well aware about it. The villagers are not bothered about pollution being ‘within prescribed limit’; they are more concerned about the fact that water is not as fresh as it used to be. Villagers are concerned about the decreasing ground water level. According to them, local wells are drying just because of deep mining and digging of deep water channels near mines. Mining wastes pollute the natural streams like Balijhore Nallah and Murga Nallah in the area. The mining company established the Aqua Water Park, which has slowed down the actual flow of water toward villages. The water further gets polluted with red oxide, which makes the water unusable for locals. The company ignored the negative consequences of building the park, but it was obvious to the villagers living along the river. One of the Ho youth from Duccasai stated that building of rainwater harvesting unit and 7880 Pandey park in the way of natural flow of the single water body in the mining area has affected the downstream movement of water that reaches to the village. The Nallah has become just a Nali (water pipe) and the dust and toxic substances carried by rain water enter the Nallah, which in turn affect the only source of drainage in villages.

Figure: Red Water in Balijhor Nallah The washeries and mine disposal are claimed to be zero discharge units, but in reality lots of effluents and suspended particles flow down the water stream, which reaches the village areas. The enormous amount of surface water for washing the ores comes from the Baitarani River that affects those villages, which do not get adequate supply and free access to the primary source of water. According to the villagers, dirty water in the Nallah is adversely affecting fishes and tens occasional dependence on fishing is also affected. Forest and Loss of Biodiversity The Ho in Noamundi is worst hit by the large scale exploitation of the natural forest of the region through the development of mines and other illegal felling of forests. People strongly agree that the increase in noise pollution owing to operation of the machines and blasting in the mining areas has affected the animals and birds, reptiles, and snakes. The frequent vehicles and big trucks on the roads leading to the forest from Chaibasa past Noamundi disturb people, wild animals, as well as the forest vegetation. Apart from the elephants, the forest of the area is home to the flying squirrel, four-horned antelope, sloth bear, leopard, and deer; the population of these animals is gradually decreasing. Demystifying ‘Green’ in Iron Mining: An Ethnographic Study 7881

The elephants were typical in Saranda forests and they lived peacefully in jungle without creating any problems for human being. But in the recent time, the issues of elephant-man conflict have become a daily feature in Noamundi. The elephants used to follow their own route to cross and walk along the jungle in search of food and fodder. The people say that these elephants are now forced to change their usual route because of the fortification of mining area with high walls. Owing to the increasing disturbance of their habitat, elephants go further afield in search of food. They enter the villages and create lots of damage to houses and crops as well as harm people and even kill few in the process. Ironically, forest department officials believe, that the indigenous people are cutting down the forest, which is annoying the elephants. High iron-ore content in the rivers makes the water unfit for drinking and the noise of the trucks carrying ore scares elephants (Priyadarshi, 2012). Clearances to several iron ore mining projects are seriously affecting the elephant habitat resulting into interspecies conflict for forest resources. Mining dust in the atmosphere has retarded the growth of a number of smaller plants and creepers that grow in association with other plant species. Some plants that are dependent on other for pollination or for any other need are further affected. For Ho, any park and artificial garden cannot provide the natural habitat that Singbonga has created in the ancient time. They laugh at the idea of botanical garden and ethno-medicine workshops like token activities done by Tata Company. With the loss of natural plants and trees in the forest, the synthetic beauty of nature cannot fill their hungry stomach. They say that no park can compensate the lush green beauty of forest and the smell of different plants and flowers in different seasons. They further believe that Bongas (Spirtis) are affected and they are becoming powerless owing to the unstoppable deforestation in Noamundi.

Mining induced impact on Agricultural Economy Agriculture is still the subsistence occupation of the Ho people even after mining is conducted in the area almost after a century. Local agriculture hardly provides enough for meeting the modern day monetary requirements of the people. The increasing population and decreasing size of land holding is also posing threat to their dependence upon agriculture. The Ho people further believe that agricultural production has steeply decreased because of the changing rain pattern and other environmental changes. A fairly educated mining worker, who is also involved in agriculture, informed that in the olden days, Bongas used to hear our prayers and gave us abundant rain, but now- a-days owing to all sorts of vices, he must be angry with use and do not pay heed to their prayers. For the last few years, the production has 7882 Pandey suffered a lot in this area due to less rain, and the cultivators are facing a tough time. Nevertheless, people of the Ho community still consider land as the chief source of survival, as very limited opportunity is available to them in the mining job. They believe that mining will stop one day, there will not be much to do. Hence, they feel afraid to switch to solely mining jobs and so they try to preserve their hold on agricultural and forest land. Noamundi township haat offer good marketing facilities for the inhabitants of the adjacent areas; and some local Ho supply the town people with commodities like mahua, rice- beer, vegetables, milk, earthen pots, woods. Regular employment opportunity for them in the mining is limited, thus there is very little desire in the younger generation to move into the mining labor.

Discussion The Ho in Noamundi have relied upon their traditional wisdom and mode of living even after a century of mining and subsequent changes in local ecology and economy. The six generations of Ho indigenes have seen the ravaging of the forest, plundering of mountains, and removing of earth from their home. In Noamundi, the indigenous Ho has demonstrated ample resilience (Jacka, 2015) by adhering to their traditional agriculture and forest-based economic lifestyle amidst several ecological challenges to land, water, and forest due to mining. The Ho is not totally averse to modern life. In fact, is attracted towards modernity and aspires for prosperity like immigrants living in the mining camps. Ho have witnessed the luxury associated with the mining boom and time of economic affluence in Noamundi. Some Ho businessmen, contractors, truck owners and elite few strongly believe in the positive outcomes of the mining operation. These elites understand that mining causes pollution and disease, but they are also aware that mining only can gives them huge wealth and helps them in fulfilling their desires. The political faction of Ho bargains for sustainable use of mining resources and equal distribution of benefits for tribal communities as well. The corporate idea of ‘green mining’ and ‘sustainable extractive industry’ hinges upon the techno-scientific researches and mechanical advances, which promises to correct the errors of the past. The mining companies strongly believe in ‘ecological modernization’ and deploy it for planning sustainable mining. The villagers in Noamundi have an indigenous mode of analysis to understand and negotiate the everyday impacts of mining and promises of corporate environmental management. The Ho strongly believes that the company always depicted the positive benefits of mining without actually detailing the socio-ecological fallout of rapid mining projects. The tribals and activists in Noamundi sarcastically argue that “data management” is always Demystifying ‘Green’ in Iron Mining: An Ethnographic Study 7883 involved in corporate research and reports to furnish positive environmental compliances. It is a mechanism of ‘self-certification’ because locals have nothing to say. The Ho people firstly do not have techno-scientific knowledge to counter researched data and the findings published in highly technical language. Secondly, people have no means to employ scientists for carrying independent research on environmental pollution in Noamundi, so they only have the dependence on community knowledge acquired over a period. Indigenous knowledge about pollution of Balijore Nallah is contradictory to the company’s data, and that “putting everything under prescribed limits does not guarantee environmental purity”. The place once mined cannot be restored to its original condition; however, corporate environmental management tries to make people believe that the ‘results will be even better than the original one’. It has been found in few other studies as well that “the mining company’s defense of its ‘green mining’ involved systematic manipulation of scientific processes from data collection and analysis to the presentation of the results” (Kirsch, 2014, p. 133). The educated Ho in Noamundi speculates that Tata Company makes such propaganda in its environmental reports to project itself as ‘green’ corporation.

Conclusion A hoarding board in Noamundi having slogan ‘mining is our profession and caring for the environment is our passion’, very aptly reflects the company’s intention to display vivid contributions toward green and sustainable mining. But the local people and civil society actors look at these attempts as mere corporate ‘green washing’ and ‘moral politics of extractivisim’. The environmental management practices and associated rhetoric of ‘green mining’ in Noamundi is too strong to differentiate among corporates as capitalist or environmentalist; however, people are disgruntled with the continuous loss of their natural resources and mining induced ecological perturbations. People have maintained resilience and tendency to survive by sticking to the traditional ecological and economic practices along with the inherent desire of modernity for their own people. Therefore, based on findings of this study, it can be argued that articulation associated with ‘green mining’ and ‘sustainable growth’ in Jharkhand have only led to the generation of anti-political ‘affects’ for the corporation to win moral sanction and social license to operate. However, the actual benefits of ‘green mining’ and ecological sustainability are yet to be achieved for people in Noamundi. The corporate must involve the Ho community as a key stakeholder in the mining process and try to incorporate them in decision making bodies related with CEM and mining expansion. The business sustainability 7884 Pandey approach which focuses upon greener and efficient production should envision community need towards land, forest, and water as an essential part of sustainable business strategy. The inquiry of CEM and its impact on local tribal population has not been conducted in Indian context. This ethnographic study of CEM discipline and practices and its role in operating, achieving, and projecting the goal of so-called ‘green mining’ in the indigenous heartland, paves the way for future researchers to critically evaluate the potential of the extractive industry in the sustainable development of tribal population living in the vicinity of mines.

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