K'taka mining ban has caused socio-economic havoc: Survey

The mining ban in Karnataka has left an enormous economic and social impact, with a new survey revealing the extent of the havoc.

A whopping 85% of mine workers do not have alternative source of income, 77% do not have any other assets to cope with livelihood loss and 58% do not have any other employment opportunities, according to a sample survey of 2,500 people done by the Forum for Integrated Development and Research (FIDR) across five states.

Worse, 82% are still not prepared for livelihood loss due to which mental stress, mental illness and domestic violence are on the rise in such households.

The survey was done across Goa, Karnataka, Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, where mining contributes to over 12% of the state gross domestic product (GDP), but has been banned since 2011-12.

In Karnataka, according to the FIDR survey, the impact of the mining ban has been enormous.

The survey was done across Goa, Karnataka, Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, where mining contributes to over 12% of the state gross domestic product (GDP), but has been banned since 2011-12.

In Karnataka, according to the FIDR survey, the impact of the mining ban has been enormous.

Nearly 21 million tonnes of steel-making capacity in the state is dependent on local iron ore supplies. Of the total production in Karnataka, which provides 24% of the country’s iron ore output, 75% comes from the Ballari-Hosapete region.

Shutting down the Ballari mines forced steel plants to close in Karnataka as they could neither use the low-grade ore from Goa (because of ban) nor bring in the required quantity from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, as high transport costs made that commercially unviable, according to the survey.

But a far bigger impact was experienced on the loss of production and employment in downstream industries such as automobiles, consumer durables, machine tools and engineering products.

The direct employment loss was at 80,000, with several lakh other jobs being jeopardised in downstream industries in Karnataka since 2011-12. The government lost Rs 10,000 crore in revenues and commercial banks suffered an asset deterioration of about Rs 50,000 crore.

In Goa, the stoppage of iron ore mining has impacted revenues worth Rs 3,400 crore and put at peril livelihoods of 3 lakh people.

A majority of those surveyed in the five states were of the view that legal instability and a weak mining policy has encouraged rapid depletion of investor confidence, leading to uncertainty regarding the future of mining in the country.

At least 90% respondents were vocal about the decline in real estate prices, which has severely impacted economic activities in the communities supposed to provide alternative livelihood options.