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Socio-economic Impact of Mining on Rural Communities: A Study of the Ib Valley Coalfield in Odisha Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Nabanita Das Roll No. 509HS304 Under the supervision of Dr. Niharranjan Mishra Assistant Professor DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROURKELA - 769008, ODISHA, INDIA AUGUST CERTIFICATE Dr. Niharranjan Mishra Assistant Professor Department of Humanities and Social Sciences National Institute of Technology Rourkela, India This is to certify that the thesis entitled “Socio-economic Impact of Coal Mining on Rural Communities: A Study of the IB Valley Coalfield in Odisha” being submitted by Ms. Nabanita Das, Roll No. 509HS304, to the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India, for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy is a record of confide research carried out by her under my supervision. The Candidate has fulfilled all the prescribed requirements. The thesis is based on candidate’s own work, has not been submitted elsewhere for the award of any degree to the best of my knowledge and belief. In my opinion, the thesis is of the standard required for the award of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology. Date: Dr. Niharranjan Mishra Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela-769 008, Odisha, India [email protected], [email protected] Voice: + (91)-661 246 2695 Acknowledgement Throughout my PhD work, I got the helping hand and moral support of many people to accomplish my research work. At this point of time I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledgement them for their generosity. First and foremost I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude to my research mentor Dr. Niharranjan Mishra, for providing me the healthy yet liberal environment to carry out my research. It has been a great opportunity to work with him with his strong analytical and critical approach towards research. Since beginning to end I had ample of discussions regarding my research which helped me to broaden my own way of observation. I feel fortunate enough for his patience, valuable advice, and generous co-operation, corrections and statute criticisms without which this work would not have been accomplished. I will always be indebted towards you ‘Sir’ for mentoring me. I express my sincere thanks to Prof. S.K. Sarangi, Director, NIT, Rourkela for creating healthy working environment in the campus and giving permission to use the facilities available in the institute for this study. I am very much thankful to all my Doctoral Scrutiny Committee Members Prof. Seemita Mohanty (Chairman DSC), Dr. H. B. Sahu, Dr. S. K. Sahu and Dr. J. Pradhan for their valuable feedbacks and suggestions throughout my research career. I wish to express my sincere thanks to all the faculty members of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences for their valuable suggestions during the research period. I would also like to thank Manasi Madam, Badri and Satya, official staffs of department of Humanities and Social Sciences for their official help. My profound thanks to Prof. B. K. Swain of RTM Nagpur University, Dr. Panchanan Dalai of Banaras Hindu University, Dr. Appa Rao of NIT Rourkela and Mr. Sudhanshu Mishra for their generosity to go through my draft and providing me the constructive suggestions to improve the dissertation. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Rajnish Thul for providing me all kinds of positive vibes all through the research period. I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to the Land and Revenue Managers Mr. A. K. Santoshi and G. M. Nayak of Ib Valley Coalfield for providing me all kinds of official information regarding my field area. The study would not have been completed without the help and co-operation sought from the respondents of Ib Valley Coalfield. So I must convey my sincere thanks to the respondents who whole heartedly co-operated me in this endeavour despite their vulnerable condition. I am also thankful to all the great scholars from whom I have borrowed the literary ideas. Words are insufficient to express my gratitude to and indebtedness to my parents for their constant motivation, encouragement and love sustained supplication since the inception of the study. I am speechless to thank my mother who was always there with me in course of stressful field study. Despite of all her health repressions she was always there both physically and mentally. My heartfelt thanks to my father for providing me mental strength and always been there to encourage me. My earnest thanks to my sister Madhumita, brother Vivek, and brother-in-law Dillip for their support and encouragement. Their positive attitude and moral support helped me to focus on my research. Special thanks to my little angel Sierra who was always my stress buster all through my research career. I am highly obliged to Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) New Delhi for providing me the financial grant under Doctoral Fellowship. At the various stages of my research career I owed the moral and physical support of my beloved friends. I am thankful to my dearest friends Kalpana, Suman and Sarita for their unconditional love, affection and care. They made my stay more easy and lively at the hostel and department too. Thanks is a weird word to express my gratified emotional state as these support systems were always there during my academic, health and personal issues. I am also like to thank my friends Dhananjay, Govind, Madhusmita, Aradhana and Rashida for their helping hand during the drafting of my thesis. I am thankful to the library staffs of Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies (NCDS), University of Hyderabad, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Centre for Youth and Social Development (CYSD) for granting me the permission to avail the library facility for my research enquiries. I convey my thanks to some other friends and juniors Rozy, Basanta, Pallavi, Jayashree, Radha, Arundhati, Elsie, Dheeraj, Dinabandhu, Smita, Kaushik, Suchandra, Meenanakshi, Saranga, and Chita for their help and support. I am very much thankful to Mr. R. C. Mallick, Sarat Bhaina, Nandy uncle and Mr. Krishnendu Biswas for providing me all kinds of necessary arrangements during my field survey. Finally, I convey my prayer to Sai Baba for his grace and shower. August 2015 Nabanita Das Dedicated to My Beloved Parents & My Little Angel “Sierra” Abstract Natural resources are an integral part of all human civilization. Again, natural resources that can either be renewable or non-renewable, affords adequate atmosphere towards economic development. Coal as a form of non-renewable natural resource is obtainable through excavation. But in the process, it is often regarded as a socially and environmentally stubborn substance. In India, the process of globalization has encouraged the industrial giants to mine the natural resources which have witnessed a virtuous symbol of economic activity since then. By introducing this resource- extraction industry, the unindustrialised realms are earning substantial section of foreign exchange and at the same time subsidising obviously to the growth of gross domestic product. At the onset, the new mining projects necessitated massive acres of land to execute their operation and started convincing the mass by providing a better income earning environment as well as the infrastructural developments like well- connected roads, electricity, health care facilities etc. But the fruit of development cannot be fortified by overlooking the source and means of living of the project affected communities. Moreover, the by-products of coal mining such as loss of agro- based livelihood, decrease of natural capital, pollution and ill health are becoming the matter of concern globally. In this background the present study was undertaken by taking three specific objectives: first, to analyse the impact of coal mining on the local communities and their livelihood with special reference to Ib Valley coalfield; second, to explore the impact of coal mining on the rural social structure; and finally, to assess the adverse effects of coal mining on the health condition of rural people. To attain these objectives, the present research was carried out in the Ib Valley Coalfield, a subsidiary of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited. Much before the instigation of field work a pilot study was conducted and on the basis of that pilot study, six mining affected villages and two control villages were selected in the same district and within the same agro-climatic zone. While mining affected villages were selected within the vicinity of three kilometres from mining, control villages were selected around twenty kilometres distance from the active mining region. Using the systematic random sampling method, a sample of 50 households from each village was undertaken. Thus a total of 400 such households (300 from mining affected villages and 100 from control villages) were taken as sample for the study. Data were collected by i employing both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Primary data were collected using household schedule, case study, observation methods and some unstructured questionnaires. Discussions were organized with public and other stakeholders. In depth interview was also held with officials from the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited, State Government, NGO personnel, and local leaders. For secondary information, government records, newspaper articles and other available literatures were reviewed. Then the data were analysed by using SPSS software. The findings of the research conclude that mining has given rise to positive implications on financial capital and can be held responsible for mixed impacts on human and physical capital. In one aspect, it is providing a wider atmosphere for diversified sources of livelihood generation; on the other aspect it has alienated the project affected rural communities from their traditional agro-based livelihoods. Subsequently, with the introduction of mining projects, the network ties among the mining affected mass is getting disturbed and the traditional base of structural aspect has lost its significance.

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