Children - Terre des Hommes

55
Bellary: Children Behind the Iron
Curtain-Too Many Irons in the Fire to
Save Them
“Red people, red dust, red water, red trees, red
animals and the village itself has turned into a red
village”. In the morning we wake up with dust, we
eat dust, drink dust and sleep with dust, our life is
only about red dust”
Source: Complaint from people interviewed in Kallali village, Hospet,
June 2009
Hospet is a small town in Bellary district known for its large
reserves of iron ore and manganese. It is a haven for illegal
mining and is a standing example of how the power of the
mining mafia has reached uncontrollable limits inspite of
wide media exposes, political imbroglios and human rights
campaigns. The open opulence of mine owners most boastfully
described through the number of helicopters owned in this
region stares arrogantly against the stark poverty, hunger,
destroyed lands, ruined agriculture and mangled social fabric.
Most of all it stares unrepentantly at the terrified child,
who breaks the iron ore stones across miles of illegal mines,
ruthlessly obscured by the impenetrable nexus of the mining
industry and the politician whose influence over governance
and administration is known to be beyond just the Bellary
district or even that of Karnataka.
Bellary, Sandur and Hospet taluks have, over the last few
decades, changed the ecology and economy of the region
by setting up iron ore mining extraction and refining
projects. These are, to a large extent, serviced by migrant
populations who come from Chitradurg, Raichur and Koppal
in Karnataka and from the neighbouring state of Andhra
Pradesh. The areas visited for the field survey were Kallali,
Danapur, Sankalapuram, Kariganuru, Jambunathagudda,
Mariyammanahalli, PK halli, Rajapura, Sultanpura,
Torangallu and Bellary. We found several violations on the
rights of the children living and working in the mining sites,
slums and villages here.
The companies are mainly private operators with a few public
sector companies like the National Mineral Development
Corporation (NMDC). However, there are more illegal
mines than legal ones operating in the district. The mining
boom led to a scramble for mining with small contractors and
even farmers themselves converting vast areas of agricultural
lands into mine pits in a very erratic, uncontrolled and
indiscriminate manner.
Migrant workers live in small plastic tents no larger than 3–5 sq ft in size, at
the mine site, Sandur. (Photo December 2009)
For instance, in Jambunathagudda, a small village near
Hospet, we found over 100 acres of land being used for smallscale
illegal mining. We visited three sites here where mainly
migrant labour from Koppal, Chitradurg and Gulbarga were
working. The people reported that there were atleast 40
illegally operating mines here but the numbers had reduced
due to the economic recession. All the 20-odd migrant families
live in makeshift tents made of plastic sheets, provided by the
contractor. They have no electricity, drinking water or basic
amenities. Their ration cards are of their native village, hence
they can only purchase from the private shops. None of the
children here attend school, but they help their parents in the
mines. Each family earns Rs.1,500 per week.
Child Labour
It is difficult to give an exact figure for child labour, but one
has to only visit Hospet and spend a whole day walking
through the mines, and it is obvious that there are a large
Children of migrant families work at crushing site, This one is in a crushing
unit at Hospet (Photo June 2009)