Household incomes drop by more than half after mining ban: Report

With the household income falling by more than half after the mining ban in Goa, incidences of domestic violence have increased due to joblessness and financial crunch to run families, a report has claimed.

The ban on mining has not only affected the families dependent on mining but also the families whose livelihoods are dependent on the ancillaries of the mining industry, the report titled 'Mining, A Prudent Perspective' based on a survey conducted across five major mining states in India, namely Goa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Karnataka said.

Women and children are the worst sufferers due to the policy decisions to close down mining, the report by the Forum for Integrated Development and Research (FIDR), a non-profit, social change organisation, said.

Of the 2,415 household surveyed, 70 per cent felt that mining had helped create jobs for them in the first place. Today, these jobs have vanished.

Around 65 per cent of the respondents said that their family lives are under severe strain and are further getting destroyed due to indebtedness, bankruptcy, violence from moneylenders, drinking and other social vices.

Twenty-seven per cent of respondents stated that mental instabilities have increased due to livelihood stress. Sixty per cent of the respondents said stoppage of mining had a high impact on their lives.

Majority of those surveyed opined that legal instability and a weak mining policy has encouraged rapid depletion of investor confidence leading to uncertainty regarding the future of mining in India.

Ninety per cent respondents have been vocal about the decline in the real estate prices which has severely impacted economic activities in the communities which were supposed to provide alternate livelihoods options.

"This is another limiting factor for people's economic stability and future prospects.," it said.

The FIDR survey indicates that in the five states, mining contributes to over 12 per cent (on an average) of the state GDP.

The closure of mines has dimmed the chances of the states to contribute to the vision of five trillion economy of the country.

Mining came to a halt in Goa in March 2018 after the Supreme Court quashed 88 mining leases and banned extraction of fresh iron ore.