By Pratap Chatterjee
SINGRAULI, INDIA, Feb 4 1995 (IPS)

THE HALF-COMPLETE ROAD LEADING TO THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED VILLAGE OF AMBEDKARNAGAR HAS A ROW OF FIVE CONCRETE PILLARS CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER BY ELECTRIC WIRE, BUT NOT TO ANY POWER SOURCE.

THE ROAD AND THE PILLARS ARE THE ONLY SIGNS OF DEVELOPMENT WORK DONE BY THE GOVERNMENT-OWNED NORTHERN COAL LIMITED (NCL), WHICH BROUGHT THE 300 INHABITANTS OF AMBEDKARNAGAR HERE LAST YEAR. NCL HAS TURNED THEIR FORMER HOMES IN THE NEARBY VILLAGE OF KHADIA-GAON INTO A DUMPYARD FOR A NEIGHBOURING COAL MINE.

THEIR NEW VILLAGE IS JUST A FEW KILOMETRES AWAY FROM THE COAL MINE SITUATED IN A SPRAWLING, SMOKY, INDUSTRIAL REGION THAT BOASTS FIVE HUGE THERMAL POWER PLANTS WHICH DEPEND ON ITS COAL SUPPLIES.

THE REGION, CALLED SINGRAULI, STRADDLES THE BORDERS OF MADHYA PRADESH AND UTTAR PRADESH, THE TWO GIGANTIC CENTRAL INDIAN STATES.

DESPITE THE INDUSTRIALISATION OF THE ENTIRE AREA, THE MINE AUTHORITIES HAVE NOT PROVIDED THE 58 HOUSEHOLDS IN AMBEDKARNAGAR WITH SCHOOLS, POTABLE WATER, ELECTRICITY OR SANITATION FACILITIES.

JAVETRI DEVI, A LOCAL WOMAN, POINTS TO A WELL THAT SHE AND HER FAMILY HAVE DUG FOR THEMSELVES. “WITHOUT THIS WE WOULD HAVE NO WATER,” SHE SAYS.

THE VILLAGERS HAVE ALSO BUILT THEIR OWN HOUSES WITH LOCAL WOOD AND BRICKS BUT TWO HOUSES HAVE ALREADY COLLAPSED. ONLY 20 PEOPLE IN THE SETTLEMENT HAVE BEEN GIVEN JOBS AT THE MINE BUT FOR THE OTHER 280 THERE IS NO WORK AND NO DECENT LAND TO FARM.

THE PLIGHT OF PEOPLE HERE AND ACROSS INDIA, AFFECTED BY SUCH COAL MINES IS LIKELY TO MULTIPLY, SAY ACTIVISTS. A 425 MILLION DOLLAR EXPANSION OF THE COAL MINES IS ON THE CARDS AND WILL BE CONSIDERED BY THE WORLD BANK’S BOARD OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ON MAY 16, ACCORDING TO THE BANK’S LATEST LOAN SUMMARIES.

A TOTAL OF 33 COAL MINES HAVE BEEN EARMARKED FOR EXPANSION BY COAL INDIA, THE GOVERNMENT BODY THAT OWNS NCL. TWENTY OF THESE MINE EXPANSIONS WILL INVOLVE THE RESETTLEMENT OF 18,257 PEOPLE, ACCORDING TO BANK DOCUMENTS. THIS COAL WILL SUPPLY ANOTHER 16,000 MW OF NEW POWER-GENERATING CAPACITY FOR WHICH THE BANK HAS PROMISED ADDITIONAL LOANS.

THESE NEW LOANS WILL FURTHER TRANSFORM THIS REGION THAT UNTIL THIRTY YEARS AGO, WAS A QUIET, DENSE FOREST FULL OF ANIMALS SUCH AS TIGERS AND BEARS.

INITIAL CHANGE CAME IN THE 1960S WHEN THE RIHAND DAM WAS BUILT TO PROVIDE ELECTRICITY. IN 1977, THE WORLD BANK LENT 850 MILLION DOLLARS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A MAJOR COAL POWER PLANT, AN OPEN-PIT MINE, AND TRANSMISSION LINES.

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