The hidden subsidy

The hidden subsidy

Limestone, the main raw material in cement manufacturing, is obtained by large-scale open cast mining. In India, this stage of the cement life-cycle is the industry's weakest link -- environmentally and otherwise. It brings conflicting interests to a head -- on the one hand, the need to extract minerals for growing economies and, on the other, the need to conserve livelihoods of local communities dependent on local resources. The absence of tight regulation and clear policy directives gives the industry an upper hand; local communities suffer because their natural resource base is degraded.

India has abundant reserves of limestone -- 149,145 hectares (ha) has been leased out for mining limestone, according to Monograph on Limestone and Dolomite, published by the Indian Bureau of Mines in 2003. The cement industry's limestone is mainly found in nine states, which are home to many cement plants (see graph: Limestone leases).

Lives and landscapes
One reason for the massive ecological impact of mining is the fact that it changes -- often irreversibly -- the land-use patterns of an entire region. In developing countries, mining changes both landscapes and lifestyles. Most mines are located on what used to be agricultural land: almost 60 per cent of land leased by the large-scale plants is suitable for agriculture.

Taking agricultural land away for mining impacts on local economies hugely, causing alienation from the environment and loss of livelihoods. Rehabilitation packages are usually inadequate, which makes matters worse. In Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, where the cement industry has grown rapidly, agricultural communities have had to move away from traditional lifestyles. Ecologically, the impact has been disastrous, with land being converted into quarries, thereby losing its fertility over the long haul.

Moreover, in India, much of what is designated wasteland is actually used by local communities for a variety of activities -- like grazing cattle. Thirty-seven per cent of the area taken for mining in the grp sample was earlier being used for grazing or marginal farming. The maximum impact has been in Rajasthan, which has a large population dependent on livestock, and where 88 per cent of land leased out to the cement industry falls under this category.

For the cement industry, land-use patterns, and ecological and social factors are not siting criteria, economic logic is. Forty-five per cent of plants are located in ecological sensitive areas such as hilly terrain, or near forests and wildlife sanctuaries and within coastal regulation zones.

In the early 1980s, rampant limestone mining in the Dehradun valley in Uttaranchal (then Uttar Pradesh) sparked off huge protests. It was pointed out that one of the most important functions of the limestone deposits was conservating rainwater. Decades of mining disturbed the hydrological balance of the region. In 1986, the Supreme Court banned limestone mining in the valley. All that happened was that mining shifted to Himachal Pradesh. The state has welcomed cement manufacturers, assuring local communities that jobs will be created, but the technology is a problem.

Inferno
Mining technology depends on factors such as hardness and compactness of deposits and economics. In India, 88.7 per cent of limestone in the past five years was extracted by blasting. Surface miners were used to mine just 8.5 per cent of the deposits. Just four plants use surface miners -- gacl -Gujarat unit, Madras Cement Ltd- Alathiyur Works, Sanghi Cement and Gujarat Cement Works of the Ultratech group.

Using surface miners eliminates the problems commonly associated with blasting -- including noise pollution and damage to houses in the vicinity. Currently available surface miners can only be used on soft deposits (having a compressive strength less than 600 kg/cm 2). But some plants continue to use blasting to mine soft limestone -- for instance, Jamul Cement Works of the acc group, Saurashtra Cement and Lafarge India's Sonadih unit. Gujarat Sidhee Cement Limited (gscl) got a surface miner only in 2004, though its plant has been onstream since 1987. This happens because there is no regulatory pressure on the industry to switch to eco-friendly technology. Industry prefers blasting because it costs Rs 36 per tonne of material extracted, while surface mining costs Rs 47 per tonne.

When mining strikes the natural water table, the availability of water in the surrounding areas decreases. For example, in New Surjana village near the Chanderia mines of Birla Chittor, where the groundwater table has been breached, residents claim the water table had dipped from 25 feet to 400-500 feet, and wells and tube-wells have dried up.

Currently, there are no regulations to prevent breaching. Fourteen plants 39 per cent of those rated by grp have breached the groundwater table. Experts say breaching of the water table is no problem. But the fact is groundwater management is key to the future of India's ecology. Regular monitoring of groundwater levels within lease areas should be essential for mining. Currently, only 10 units monitor groundwater levels. Industry will have to accept that breaching the water table and creating the illusion that making pits are efforts at rainwater harvesting are not acceptable strategies. Proper measures have to be taken to manage groundwater properly -- through hydrological studies, by identifying and recharging natural aquifers, and creating infrastructure for water supply to nearby villages.

Poorly managed
Mining subsidises the cement industry -- mine management is pathetic because little effort or resources are spent on it or on reclamation (see box: Subsided by mining). Less than half of the big cement plants have no reclamation programmes. The lack of credible regulation allows the industry to get away with this.

Programmes for topsoil and overburden (waste by-products) management, afforestation, rainwater harvesting or reducing siltation and runoff are at best half-hearted and most often ineffectual. Take topsoil management. Though valuable ecologically, it has no immediate economic value. Predictably, it is poorly managed. Though more than half of the topsoil excavated is supposedly stored for future reclamation efforts, only 8.7 per cent of plants have planted vegetation on topsoil dumps to reduce runoff and 35 per cent have constructed good bunds or culverts around them. Afforestation has also been neglected. Mine lease areas are, however, barren.

Reclamation doesn't really happen. Whatever reclamation happens is skewed. Most plants are going to reclaim parts of exhausted land -- 77 per cent -- by creating reservoirs. Plantations will take up just 22.6 per cent. There are no reclama-tion plans for agriculture. The perspective is bleak. 12jav.net12jav.net