836 days of Jansangarh against the land acquisition by NTPC, JSW and Adani for coal mines in Badam panchayat, Gondalpura block of Hazaribagh

The farmers of Gondalpura village of Hazaribag, Jharkhand, India have been protesting for 836 days since 12 April 2023 against the proposed land acquisition for a coal project of Adani enterprises at their village. The villagers have unanimously passed a village council resolution that they would not give their multi-cropped agricultural land for the private interest of Adani enterprises. Hazaribagh which was once famous for its dense forests and wildlife is now blindly issuing environmental clearances for coal extraction for several private industries such as Adani, Jindal, Rungta and BGR through public enterprises such as Central Coal Limited (CCL), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and National Mineral Development Corporation (NTPC). Twenty-seven different false cases of disrupting law and order are charged against 161 villagers of Gondalpura for opposing coal mining induced, forced displacement. 

Context

After its coal exploration, Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL) has divided the area of North and South Karanpura into 83 coal fields. The three blocks of this area, Barkagaon, Keredari and Tandwa will cease to exist soon. Most of the villages in these blocks will be destroyed or it can be said that all these affected villages will disappear from the map of India or the world forever and in their place will remain the pits or overburden of the respective coal projects. This is not a fantasy. Even today, many villages like Churchu, Sonbarsa, Chirudih Nagdi, Urub etc. are missing the map of Barkagaon due to mining. In place of these villages, there are overburdens or coal mine of NTPC Pakri Barwadih. Today the people of these villages have settled here and there or are forced to live in substandard colonies built by the company. Some have settled in such places from where there is a danger of being displaced again.

One of these coal blocks identified by CMPDIL is the Badam coal block.

This coal block is made up of 6 villages situated in the eastern part of Barkagaon block of Hazaribagh district, which includes 

• Badam

• Gondal Pura

• Rudi

• Rautara

• Ambajit 

• Phulang 

CMPDIL has earmarked three coal blocks by the name of Badam which include Badam, Badam North and Badam Deep Side. In Badam North, there are villages like 

• Shukulkhapiya

• Babu Ballia

• Mardu Soti

• Mahugai Kala

• Ambajit

In Badam Deep Side project, villages include 

• Badam

• Mahugai Khurd

• Harli

• Dambha Deeh 

• Bela Beltaul 

These villages will be completely displaced. 

In Badam coal block, NTPC and its mines developer and operator (MDO) is Tamil Nadu based company BGR are preparing to swallow 6 villages by joining hands with the smaller companies of this region. 

History of Badam

The name of Badam is associated with Raja Dalel Singh in history. Raja Dalel Singh's father was Raja Ram Singh and grandfather was Hemant Singh. Raja Dalel Singh's ancestors had made Badam the capital of Karnapura (present day pargana). The remains of the fort built by this dynasty in Badam can still be seen today. This fort is on the verge of destruction due to its location on the banks of the Haharo river and the negligence of the governments. Even today, if it is properly maintained, it can become a historical tourist spot as well as a source of income for the local and state.

                                  Badam Fort (Source: Dainik Jagran)

The tenure of Raja Dalel Singh is from 1677 AD to 1724 AD. The name of the court poet of Raja Dalel Singh was Padam Das and Padam Das's father was Damodar Das. There is evidence that his descendants were present in Ambajit. Raja Dilip Singh changed the course of the Haharo River by cutting the rocks of the Badmahi mountain to protect his Badam Fort from river floods, evidence of which is still there today. It was he who established Panchvahini Mata at the western end of this new route of Badmahi mountain, which is today called Panch Bahini in a corrupted form. There is a temple there and every year a fair is held here on Makar Sankranti. With this Badam coal project, both the historical evidence of Raja Dalel Singh will be lost to the mine, and a glorious history will be buried forever in the pit of destructive development.

Geographical location and agriculture

All the villages of this project are either in the forest or right next to the forest in the forest foothills. The main tributaries of Jharkhand's main river Damodar, Badmahi and Haharo flow through these villages. The Gondalpura coal mining project on the banks of the Badmahi river has also been allotted to the Adani company. The Motra coal block is in the villages and mountains to the north of the Badam mining project, which has been allotted to a company called Jindal South West (JSW). This coal block has been allocated to JSW Steel on 22 April 2015.

The names of the villages affected by Motra coal block are 

• Sukul Kh

• Ambajit

• Damodar

• Motra

• Hahe

• Phulang

• Azad Nagar

• Babupara. 

Gondalpura coal mining project has been built to the east of Badam coal mining project, which has been allotted to Adani company. 

The names of the villages affected by this project are 

• Phulang

• Hahe

• Balodar

• Gondalpura 

• Gaali

Babupara coal block has been formed in the south-eastern part of Badam coal mining project which has been allotted to a company named Rungta Sons and in the southern part adjacent to the Babupara coal block of Rungta Sons is the Rohne coal block which has been allotted to the National Mineral Development Corporation i.e. NMDC.

Babupara coal block includes all three coal blocks proposed by CMPDIL namely Babupara, Rautara and Rohne deep side. In this coal block, 5960 acres of land will be sacrificed for the mine. 

This coal block has been allotted to Rungta Sons on 13 March 2024 and the names of the affected villages are 

• Babupara

• Rautara

• Kutulwa

• Chapri 

Some river or rainy drain flows through the villages of all these projects. 

The main river of this area is Badmahi which originates from the mountains east of Balodar village of Gondalpura coal block and flows through Gaali, Gondalpura, Babu Para, Phulang Rudi, Rautara, Badam, Dambhadih, Kutulwa, Harli, Ganga Dohar, Nayatand and after irrigating the agricultural lands of villages like Vishrampur etc. with its free water, it joins the Badki River near Sonpura. The sand of this river provides employment to hundreds of unemployed youths of the villages on its banks. Thousands of acres of land on both banks of these rivers grow crops of various kinds throughout the year. These rivers play an important role in the prosperity of these villages. The jaggery of these regions is very popular. The vegetables of these regions fulfil the vegetable needs of the nearby urban areas.

Project in Details

The Badam coal mining project has been transferred to NTPC Mining Limited. It was earlier allotted to Tenughat Vidyut Nigam Limited. The Supreme Court had cancelled this coal block. Later this coal block was allotted to Barauni Thermal Power Plant, Bihar. Barauni Thermal Power Plant has been acquired by NTPC. After that this coal block was transferred to NTPC on 2 September 2019.

The total area of the project is 4.91 square kilometer i.e. 491 hectares i.e. 1227.5 acres while the area of mining alone is 221 hectares i.e. 552.5 acres, which includes agriculture and residential land 141.85 acres, forest land 333.825 acres, wasteland 32.675 acres, surface water area 36.925 acres and road etc. 7.0225 acres. 

Badmahi river flows on its western side and its length is 1100 m in the project area. The company has talked about changing its course i.e. the life of this river will end as many coal mining projects are proposed around this project. The desired area outside the mining area is 270 hectares i.e. 675 acres. An area of 282.5 acres has been marked for over burden dump, while 30 acres have been kept for infrastructure and 26.05 acres for road construction. 236.45 acres of land has been earmarked for fencing, safe area and river diversion for the project. 25 acres of land is to be acquired for township (for employees and officials) and 75 acres for rehabilitation of displaced people which will be located at one to one and a half kilometer from the project site.

Affected village

Badam, Gondalpura, Ruddi, Rautpara, Phulang and Ambajit. All these villages come under Badam, Gondalpura and Mahugai Kala Panchayat and Barkagaon block and Hazaribagh district.

A look at the coal price, loot and pollution of Badam coal project

Total coal reserves 145 million tonnes. 

Company-specified mineable coal reserves 91 million tonnes. Mining capacity 3 million tonnes per annum.

The volume of overburden is 186.200 million cubic metres i.e. 16 crore 62 lakh cubic metres 

(one cubic metre means 1 metre height x 1 metre height x 1 metre height).

Pollution from coal transport

The target for coal transport has been fixed at 10,000 tonnes per day. If 20 tonnes of coal is carried in one truck, then 500 trucks will be operated daily. Similarly, if 40 tonnes are washed per truck, then this number will increase to 250.

If we take the normal capacity of 20 tonnes of coal per tipper, then the maximum distance travelled by truck from Badam to Charhi railway siding would be 25 kilometres, i.e., at every 100 metres, there would be one tipper carrying coal and one tipper returning after emptying the coal. This road will become so busy that about 2 to 3 trucks will ply from one place in a minute. Now you can imagine the noise, pollution and road accidents caused by this.

The consumption of diesel in a truck is 1 litre for covering two to three kilometers, i.e. a truck will burn 20 litres of diesel in one trip. To carry 10,000 tons of coal, all these trucks will burn approximately 10,000 litres of diesel per day. So, the pollution that will spread in the environment due to this is neither assessed in this development nor is this subject seriously thought about. Its result is now coming out in the form of climate change and pollution.

Coal robbery

The total coal reserves in this project area are 145 million tons. If we multiply it by the current market price of ₹4000 per ton, we find that its total value will be 58000 crore rupees. The total land required for this project is 491 hectares i.e. 1227.5 acres.

Thus, the market value of coal reserves per acre for this project is approximately Rs 47 crore 25 lakh. According to a data from NTPC, 552.5 acres of land is needed in this project area just for the mine from which 91 million tons of coal will be excavated. The market value of 91 million tons of coal is Rs 36,400 crore at the current market rate. Now if we estimate the value of coal per acre of land, it comes to Rs. 65 crore 88 lakh per acre, i.e. approximately Rs. 66 crores.

A decision of the Supreme Court of India (Civil Appeal No. 4549 of 2000) has expressed the clear opinion that "the owner of the minerals is the landowner and not the Government". On the other hand, according to Article 39B of the Constitution of India, the distribution of the country's material resources should be such that no one is harmed. But in the present times, the farmers whose land is being taken are being ruthlessly removed by giving them very little compensation. What the government is calling destruction is proving to be terribly destructive. In such a situation, people are not getting their rights as per 39B.

According to the Supreme Court and the Indian Constitution, if the landowner is the owner of the coal, then why is a farmer being given only Rs 24 lakh for coal worth Rs 66 crore per acre? According to a report of CAG (Comptroller General of Accounts) of Government of India, the mining cost in open mines is around 25% of the total cost i.e. 25% of the market value per acre will be spent on mining.

the cost expenditure and savings per acre

Income will be calculated by dividing the mineable coal by the total project area i.e. 1227.5 acres as all the land will be excavated only for 91 million tonnes of coal. The mineable coal reserve per acre comes to 74134 tonnes whose market value is Rs 29 crore 65 lakh 36 thousand.

Expenditure

Compensation for land = 24 lakh rupees

Mining cost

As per CAG and currently assuming 30%, it is 9 crores

Royalty 14% = 4 crore 20 lakhs

Transport 10% approximately = 3 crores

Infrastructure and other expenses approximately 2.5% = 2 crores

Thus, the cost of coal mining from one acre, from land compensation to transportation, comes to Rs 18 crore 44 lakh. If some other expenses are added to this, then it can be assumed to be around 19 crore.

Now a look at the savings

Total cost of coal is Rs 29 crore 65 lakh 36 thousand

Total expenditure on mining and other items is Rs 19 crore

Total savings per acre is Rs 10 crore 65 lakh 36 thousand.

A look at the loot

The total compensation to be paid for the land in this project (to all the landowners of 1227.5 acres of land) is Rs 294.60 crore.

The profit to the company on completion of the project is Rs 13077.294 crore.

The total royalty amount to be received by the government is Rs 3682.5 crore.

To obtain this royalty amount, our governments forcefully displace farmers from their livelihood and land and call this development.

The ill effects of this so-called development on land, environment and our culture

1) Impact on Agricultural Production 

This project will lead to mining in about 142 acres of agricultural land (which is multi-cropped) due to which there can be a visible decrease in the production which will ultimately lead to food shortage in the region. Apart from this, 1227.5 acres of land which will be used for this project is currently forest and the rest is cultivable land which will be destroyed due to this project.

2) Effect on drinking water 

Due to mining in this project, the water level of the surrounding village will go down drastically (about 1000 to 1200 feet), and along with this, the surface water area of 40 acres which includes ponds, wells and rivers will turn into pits as it falls completely in the mine area, which will lead to the waterlogging of the surrounding area, due to which the water conservation, drinking water and irrigation water of this area will be adversely affected which will ultimately affect the farmers of this area and other living beings living in this area.

3) Forest and environment loss 

About 500 acres of forestland will be badly affected by this project. About 335 acres of this will be converted into a mine and the rest will be buried under overburden. The benefits of air, forest produce and building wood that the residents are getting from the trees and plants present in this forest area will all end. The livelihood that is being sustained by thousands of Mahua trees will also come to an end. The wild animals living in these forests will also have to take shelter somewhere else. You will know that this project and the adjacent Babu Para and Gondalpura projects fall within the elephant corridor in which elephants keep coming and going even today and many times elephants cause loss of life and property. In these circumstances, due to these mining projects in the middle of this corridor, the elephant menace will increase and many people will lose their lives.

4) Loss of historical and cultural heritage 

Apart from this project area, all the projects around it are interconnected and contain many historical and cultural heritage sites such as Badam Fort, Panchbahini, Isco Cave, Rock Art, Gondalpura Buddha Site and Badmahi River etc. Kohbar art of rock art will be lost forever because rock art is also under threat. Although, this rock art has been declared an area of national importance in 2024, but on the other hand this rock art has been put in danger by allocating Rohne and Babupara coal blocks next to this area.

Hence, by cancelling all these projects, governments need to honestly consider new, harmless, people-friendly and displacement-free options for development. 

People’s resistance: 

The villagers of Gondalpura have therefore been in a sit-in protest against the land acquisition since 12 April, 2023. The villagers say that they have been at a peaceful sit-in and dialogue with any officials who come to the village. However, the officials apply deceitful methods to measure and acquire land. They report that the mining company agents come gisguised as officials of forest department and survey the land. In August, 2023 they have even bordered the forest area with stones in the night. The villagers removed these boundaries as they were not done officially.

There are 27 different false charges of disrupting law and order filed against 161 villagers of Gondalpura. A total of 118 women has also cases against them. They villagers say that the officials simply file a FIR against them for speaking for their rights. 

The houses are marked with slogans such as “remove adani, Save environment!” Remove NTPC, Save Environment” “Owners of the land are the owners of the minerals underneath.”