Coal mining and local livelihoods

Abstract

This article is an attempt to understand the consequences of the sudden collapse and subsequent deaths in August 2013 at the Kulda Opencast coal mine in the Basundhara-Garjanbahal area of Sundargarh district, Odisha. The poor management of such mines affects the local people who have been uprooted and their livelihoods destroyed. Their efforts to eke out a living by collecting coal from around these mines are termed "illegal mining" and leads to their victimisation.