The collapse of a coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills, trapping at least 15 workers who are still missing and are feared dead, has thrown the spotlight on a procedure known as “rat-hole mining”. Although banned by the National Green Tribunal in 2014 and upheld by the Supreme Court, it remains the prevalent procedure for coal mining in Meghalaya. The poor implementation of the orders, state’s inefficiency for quick disaster management lead to many such avoidable tragedies.

The causes behind the disaster in Meghalaya are

Loopholes in the law:

• The ban has been rendered meaningless by the Supreme court-sanctioned permission to transport “already-mined” coal till January 2019. Mine owners have used this loophole to continue mining operations illegally.
• The State of Meghalaya has promulgated a mining policy of 2012, which does not deal with rat-hole mining, but on the contrary, deprecates it.
• Meghalaya comes under the 6th Schedule of Constitution. The provisions allow for community ownership of land and autonomy over its use. However they are taken over by private players and tribals are left helpless.

Lack of Political and Executive will:

• The unholy nexus of Politicians and Contractors: About 33% of political candidates have stakes in coal mining and transport companies, thus lobbying against the ban order.
• A committee (headed by Retired Justice P. Katoki) appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has blamed poor implementation of NGT order by executive.

Lack of Alternate Sources of Livelihood:

• The tardy response of the Centre and the State which has exposed the extraordinary indifference in government to labour welfare and the law.
• It is a cheap method for the mine owners to extract coal and presence of abundance of Migrant labour.

Much like the Meghalaya tragedy, other disasters—some driven by policy and others where policymakers look away—show how little the lives of the poor matter in India.

• Over the past year, at least 17 people are likely to have succumbed to hunger in Jharkhand. The inability to link Aadhar card with the ration cards of PDS is the reason.
• The botched demonetization exercise in 2016: More than a 100 people are estimated to have died either while standing in queues for long hours or for failing to provide new banknotes while getting treated in hospitals.
• An uncounted number of labourers who are paid a pittance continue to die because of silicosis after inhaling stone dust while working in quarries in states such as Rajasthan and Gujarat.
• In NCR region, more than 20 labourers have died in the past year alone from inhaling poisonous gases while cleaning sewers and sewage treatment tanks,

The above incidents reflect utter neglect on the part of the state. Ceremonial enquiries and lack of corrective measures highlights that lives of common people matter little and shows governmental apathy.

Way Forward:

• Co-ordinated working of Centre, State and Local Governments to achieve the true objective of citizen welfare.
• Holistic policymaking which involves the gauging of possible after-effects, Effective Disaster Management goals as a part of the policies.
• Effective implementation of the policies at the grass-roots level following the rule of law. Example: Prevention of Manual Scavenging act.
• Sensitivity training to public servants so that the policies are more citizen-centric and empathetic.
• Safety trainings to employees and localized Disaster Response teams should be present to reduce the wastage of precious time post disasters.
• Occupational disasters can be avoided by effective regulations and intermittent renewal of licences of firms based on safety regulations. Example: Compulsory face masks and goggles and by using wet drilling in stone quarries.
• Alternative employment or economic engagement for the coal mine owners and labourers must be provided. Example: MGNREGA
• Innovative use of technology to reduce harm to human lives. Example: Pit cleaning robots as seen in Thiruvananthapuram; Drones and Cameras for monitoring work conditions.
• Involvement of Social Activists, NGO’s and Local community and education of the people about perils of occupation.