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Home / IAS Preparation / Rat Hole Mining

Rat Hole Mining - Types, Impact on Environment and Criticisms

Last Updated on Apr 06, 2023
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Rat Hole Mining is a process that involves digging very small tunnels, usually about 3-4 feet deep, in which workers, more often children, enter and extract coal. Meghalaya predominantly engages in rat hole mining because of the difficult terrain and nature of coal available in this region. The coal seams in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are thicker than those in Meghalaya, leading to fewer Rat hole mine incidents in these states. A coal seam (dark brown or black) is a banded deposit of coal located underground and may be seen within deep rock layers.

Rat Hole Mining is one of the important topics for the UPSC IAS Exam as it covers a significant part of the mains General Studies paper-3 syllabus and preliminary examination. 

In this article, we shall cover in detail what rat hole mining means. Why is it banned? And its impact on the environment for UPSC.

Recent News

Despite the NGT ban, illegal rat hole mining is still ongoing, and as a result, few people died in Meghalaya. According to the National Green Tribunal, illegal, unregulated, and indiscriminate rat hole mining in several areas of the State of Meghalaya has resulted in substantial air, water, and environmental contamination. As per Coal Controller Organization (CCO), coal production has yet to be reported from the State of Meghalaya during the last 4 years.

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What is Rat Hole Mining?

Rat Hole Mining involves digging very small tunnels, about 3-4 feet deep, in which workers, more often children, enter to extract coal. A rat-hole mine consists of a tall vertical shaft with two to four-foot-long, thin horizontal tunnels dug on either side. To extract coal, miners dive hundreds of feet into these horizontal tunnels. These mines are constructed and run using primitive equipment, and accidents frequently occur, most of which go unreported.

Types of Rat Hole Mining

There are two types of rat hole mining:

  • Side-cutting: Narrow tunnels are dug in the hill slopes, and workers go inside the holes to find the coal seam.
  • Box-cutting: Rectangular openings are made, which can vary upto 10 to 100 sq m.

Manual labour removes the coal, loads it into a wheelbarrow or bucket, and dumps it in a nearby unmined area. After that, it is moved to bigger coal piles adjacent to a roadway for trading and further transportation.

Study in detail about Coal Bed Methane here!

Why is Rat Hole Mining Banned?

Based on a petition alleging that acidic discharge from the mines was polluting the Kopili river, the National Green Tribunal banned rat hole mining in Meghalaya in 2014. But the practice doesn’t stop. The technique was prohibited because it was risky for workers and lacked scientific rigour. The NGT rule prohibits all “unscientific and illegal mining,” not just mining in ratholes. But because the State Government has been unable to stop illegal mining effectively, Tribunal orders have consistently been broken.

Impact of Rat Hole Mining on the Environment
  • Due to the high sulphur content of Meghalaya coal, these mines discharge sulphuric acid. In certain places, the acid discharge is so bad that it has turned rivers acidic, harming aquatic life and corroding the equipment of hydropower facilities and dams. This is one of the significant disadvantages of rat hole mining.
  • Due to a lack of space, coal is kept close to rivers, which causes pollution near water bodies. The Kopili River, which flows through Assam and Meghalaya, has acidic water.
  • In and near mining regions, the roadside is used for coal piling. This is a significant cause of soil, water, and air pollution.
  • The off-road movement of trucks and other vehicles in the area further harms the environment.
  • Rat hole mining causes water to pour into the mining regions during the rainy season, which leads to many employees dying from asphyxia and hunger. The worker can only enter the cave once the water has been pumped out if water has leaked into the cave.

Criticisms 
  • It provided jobs to local people. Demands for rehabilitation or other employment have been made after the ban. As a result, it leads to unemployment.
  • The people who have invested in mining are affected badly by the ban. According to them, “the 6th Schedule of the Constitution intended to maintain the communities’ ownership over their land, autonomy, and consent over its usage.”
  • The continuous coal mining in Meghalaya corrupted this constitutional provision. Rat hole mining in India is done by private individuals interested in profiting financially from the minerals under the ground.
  • They try to justify their behaviour by asserting immunity based on tribal control over land ownership.

Study in detail about Environmental Issues here!

Conclusion

Rat hole mining is supported by the political parties to increase their vote bank. The state legislature passed a resolution in 2015 pleading with the Centre to exempt Meghalaya from federal legislation so that rat hole mining can continue. The state government has challenged the ban in the Supreme Court. However, such mines must be banned since they are too dangerous and harmful to the environment to be permitted. In simple words, even though there are regions listed on the Sixth Schedule, the right to self-governance still does not equate to the freedom to destroy the environment.

Rat Hole Mining – Meaning & Impacts on Environment Notes for UPSC: Download PDF here!

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Rat Hole Mining FAQs

The process of digging very small tunnels which is usually about 3-4 feet deep, in which workers, more often children, enter and extract coal is called Rat-hole mining.

Rat Hole Mining was banned by National Green Tribunal in 2014.

Due to rat hole mining there is acidic discharge from the mines which pollutes the river nearside. It has huge bad impacts on the environment.

Rat Hole Mining is done in the Indian state of Meghalaya because the coal seams in Meghalaya are so shallow, rat-hole mining is seen to be a more economically viable mode of extraction than open cast mining, which involves removing rocks from difficult terrain and installing supports inside the mine to prevent collapse.

Rat hole mining is illegal in India because it has severe environmental impacts and it is also responsible for the death of children engaged in it. The conditions under which the workers do mining are not hygienic and safe.
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