Inoperative mines imperil livelihoods of hundreds

Rourkela: Suspension of operations in scores of mines in Sundargarh district due to one reason or the other has seriously jeopardized the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of labourers once engaged in these mines.

About 128 mines in the district, it may be noted, are lying inoperative- some as a consequence of violation of forest laws or environmental norms by the concerned mines and others due to non-renewal of mining licenses.

The suspension of operations in these mines has thrown hundreds of workers out of job- a vast majority of them (tribals) in remote areas without any alternative sources of livelihood. Prolonged suspension of mining operations will have serious social consequences, warn activists.

Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has threatened an agitation if the mines are reopened soon. “The state government must allow the resumption of operations in these mines immediately for the sake of the hundreds of poor tribal workers, if nothing else,” CITU state general secretary Bishnu Mohanty told PBD.

Mohanty also slammed the ‘hasty’ decision of the Mining department to engage outside labourers which had rendered thousands of local labourers and truck drivers at the loading points at Raikela, Tantra, Gonua, Nuagaon, Kamando, Rantha, Kasira jobless.

According to sources in the mining department, only 27 of the 72 mines in the Koira circle are functional while the ration in the Rourkela circle is even worse: just 11 out of 63 leased mines in the circles are in operation.