Dynamics of Coal Mining Caused Environmental Crisis versus Displaced Peoplesa Question of Survival: A Case of Talcher Coal Belt Odisha (India)

Abstract

It is an unquestionable fact that coal mining not only undermines its affected people and environment, but also adversely affects their interrelationship over the years. In this context, our household survey and field study observation reveal that the entire Talcher coal belt is undergoing a rapid change from its 'culture of ecology' to the 'culture of pollution', because coal mining operations have not simply disrupted the local peasants' access to agro-economy, and their common property resources (CPRs) i.e. village forests, fresh air, clean water sources, etc, but also have detached them from their earlier environmental ethics and green thinking at present. But, pollution impact has gone to such an extent that the very environment is as if, retreating/revenging the mining affected people in unexpected ways. Many of them now, painfully apprehend the menace of excruciating heat of summer time, tragedy of fly of coal dusts and impacts of land degradation, deforestation, water pollution, etc. But, hard reality is that nobody is damn serious about environmental regeneration, and rather, they are busy adjusting themselves with its degeneration. Thus, this paper reflects on the emerging crisis of human-environmental relationship.