RAT-HOLE MINING

Jan. 12, 2019

The Supreme Court questioned the Centre and the State of Meghalaya that how come lives were lost in rat-hole mines. Rat-hole mining was banned by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) four years ago.

About:

Meaning: Rat-hole mining involves digging of very small tunnels, usually only 3-4 feet high, which workers (often children) enter and extract coal.
Types: Rat-hole mining is broadly of two types –
- In side-cutting procedure, narrow tunnels are dug on the hill slopes and workers go inside until they find the coal seam. The coal seam in hills of Meghalaya is very thin, less than 2 m in most cases.
- In box-cutting procedure, a rectangular opening is made, varying from 10 to 100 sq. m, and through that is dug a vertical pit, 100 to 400 feet deep. Once the coal seam is found, rat-hole-sized tunnels are dug horizontally through which workers can extract the coal.
Criticism:
- The National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned it in 2014 on grounds of it being unscientific and unsafe for workers.
- Ecology: Petitioners from Assam have complained to NGT that rat-hole mining in Meghalaya had caused the water in the Kopili river (it flows through Meghalaya and Assam) to turn acidic.
- Risk to lives: The NGT also observed that there are number of cases where by virtue of rat-hole mining, during the rainy season, water flooded into the mining areas resulting in death of many individuals including employees/workers.