Children - Terre des Hommes

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companies for their power plants, has affected agriculture in
the entire block. For example, in Khamhariya villagers showed
the three borewells that have no water as most of the acquifers
are affected by coal extraction. The villagers expressed fear
that their agricultural lands and cultivation will be further
destroyed, going by their experiences since the mining started
in this region. Given that malnourishment is significantly
high in this region as reflected in the state reports, the critical
state of water and agriculture have direct impacts on children
whose food security is imminently in danger. The anger of the
people is visibly evident in the agitations that are reverberating
in the area, in opposition to the new projects being set up by
the Jindals and others.
(Acknowledgements: This case study was done in partnership
with Jan Chetana Peoples Movement of Raigarh which is
working on the human and environment rights violations
by mining companies and industries in Chattisgarh. We
acknowledge the support and assistance of Mr.Ramesh
Agarwal and his team in facilitating the field visits and
compilation of primary data.)
Conclusions
Chattisgarh, a state created in the name of the development
of the adivasis, has turned into a state for indiscriminate
plunder of mineral resources by mining corporates. Corporate
violations and abuse on activists as well as community
leaders are known to all, but it is difficult to legally hold
them accountable. On the other hand, the corporates have
gained notoriety for booking false cases on activists and
community leaders who question this destruction and harass
them ceaselessly. Poverty of the communities, pollution of
the water bodies and air, encroachment of rich agricultural
lands for mineral exploitation were glaringly visible but the
thin lines between legitimacy and illegitimacy of activities,
difficulties that communities have in surmounting legal and
technical definitions of proving their health problems that
relate to mining allow companies to escape and continue with
rampant plunder of the land and destruction of water bodies.
The shocking state of children’s education and health due to
the abysmal services provided by the state compounded by
ill-health due to mining induced pollution and starvation,
do not reflect an economy that provides a just and healthy
development for the children living in this region. Mining has
put in disarray, not only the land and livelihoods, but also the
resources and services that have made achievement of MDGs
for children in the mining region of Chattisgarh, a far fetched
goal. Again Chattisgarh has proved that, mineral ‘rich’ states,
with a prolonged history of mining, overlap with some of the
poorest human development indicators in this country.