Repeated Displacement Forces Jharkhand Tribals To Leave Ancestral Lands

Suresh, who belongs to a scheduled caste, used the compensation money to buy land near Barkagaon market. Usually, at that time, an adult received Rs 9.85 lakh as compensation, along with money in lieu for land and house, as per those who have lost their land. Currently the compensation amount is Rs 10.85 lakh. Now, Suresh says, his job is not secure, and that he and his family could be displaced yet again for another coal project. Our reporting found that his story mirrors that of many in Jharkhand’s coal belt.

The displaced say skilled jobs go mostly to people who come from other states while locals, especially those from the scheduled tribes and scheduled castes, are displaced from their ancestral homes. Many who have given up their land migrate outside the state to look for livelihood opportunities.

“Natural justice demands that any development activity taking place within Jharkhand should also benefit the project affected local people, who sacrifice their land, forest, water resources and other natural resources unlike migrants or investors from outside,” the 2008 Jharkhand Rehabilitation And Resettlement Policy says. “The past experience of the people indicates that most of those who were displaced due to various projects in Jharkhand, have neither been properly rehabilitated nor resettled. Thus displacement has resulted in the exodus of the local populace from the State in search of livelihood elsewhere.

“The social, economic, political and cultural identity of the people of Jharkhand, especially the tribals, has been adversely affected because of the migrant groups,” it says.

Mining in Jharkhand

In Jharkhand, coal mines are located in 12 out of 24 districts, with operational mines in 11 districts (Dhanbad, Bokaro, Ranchi, Ramgarh, Hazaribagh, Giridih, Godda, Pakur, Deoghar, Latehar, Chatra, and Palamu. The Palamu mine is currently inoperational).

Three subsidiary companies of Coal India Limited--Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), which has acquired 44,835.7 hectares of land, Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), with 24,573.8 hectares of land, and Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) with 5,670 hectares of land--have been mining coal. This amounts to at least 75,033.53 hectares (185,411.72 acres) of land, and does not include the land acquired for BCCL's West Jharia Coal Mining Area's Munidih coal mine and the Block-E coal mining area, as detailed information for these areas is unavailable.

The landscape of coal mining is now changing, with the government permitting private companies to undertake commercial coal mining. Several private companies have been allocated coal blocks in Jharkhand, including the Adani Group, Rungta Metals Private Limited and other companies.

The state-owned power-producing company, NTPC, is also directly acquiring coal mines for its thermal power plants, which traditionally depended on supplies from Coal India companies. It is estimated that by 2029-30, coal production in the country will increase to 1.5 billion tonnes, about 50% more than in 2023-24. Jharkhand will contribute to this production growth, and its impact will be felt in the region.

Apart from coal, two other major minerals--bauxite and iron ore--are extensively mined in Jharkhand, impacting local communities. Bauxite mining is carried out in three districts--Gumla, Lohardaga, and Latehar--covering at least 4,266.02 hectares. Iron ore mining takes place in the Singhbhum region, with 15 leases covering 16 villages and 8,407.209 hectares (20,774.64 acres).

Several other minerals such as copper ore, gold ore, limestone, graphite, etc., are also mined in Jharkhand.

The mining of just three major minerals means over 87,706 hectares of Jharkhand--larger than all of Bengaluru--has been acquired, and people and biodiversity displaced.

Broken promises of rehabilitation

Coal projects are rapidly expanding in the Barkagaon region of Jharkhand. There is a discrepancy in the coal fields marked by the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI), found a study by the Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE), a public-interest environmental law group, but the number of mines is high, with nearly 57 coal blocks in the North Karanpura Coalfield and 26 in the South Karanpura Coalfield.

These span across Hazaribagh, Ramgarh, Ranchi, Latehar and Chatra district, encompassing at least 203 villages.

According to the LIFE study, the Karanpura Coalfield alone covers an area of 1,420 sq km, nearly the size of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Of this, 425.37 sq km is forest area.

Mithilesh Dangi, convener of the Azadi Bachao Andolan and a resident of the Barkagaon region, says, “In the Karanpura Valley, 83 coal blocks have been identified, and once all the coal blocks start, not a single village will remain in the entire Barkagaon block; everyone will have to be displaced.”

Just one coal mining project under NTPC's control, the Pakri Barwadih Coal Mining Project, part of the North Karanpura Coal Mining Area, involves the acquisition of 3,319.42 hectares (8,202.458 acres) of land. As per the environmental clearance granted, this includes 1,950.5 hectares of agricultural land, 101.22 hectares of land with human settlements, 643.9 hectares of forest land, and other types of land.

People across 19 villages including Barkagaon, Itij, Chiruadih, Urub, Chepa, Kalan, Nagri, Jugra, Sinduari, Churchu, Arahara, Sonbarsa, Pakri-Barwadih, Chepa Khurd, Deora Kalan, Lakura, Langatu, Keri, and Dadi Kalan, are being displaced for this project.

Instead of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, land for coal projects by Public Service Undertakings is acquired under the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act of 1957 (CBA, 1957). This Act does not require a social impact assessment. “The only form of compensation is monetary, which includes the market value of the land, damage to any standing crops or trees, damage to any immoveable property on the land, and reasonable expenses incidental to changing place of residence or business of the affected landowner. However, the market value of the land is, in practice, decided at the date at which the government declares its intent to acquire the land rather than the date of actual acquisition,” found a 2022 Oxford working paper.

In addition, there is no protection in the CBA, 1957 for someone who has already been displaced in the past. The 2013 law asks that either previously displaced people not be displaced again or, they be awarded double the compensation. Those who have lost their land for the Pakri Barwadih mine say that the pre-decided rate for compensation is between Rs 20-24 lakh per acre, and the sum per adult person is currently Rs 10.85 lakh.

The Union government has released the draft of the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Amendment Bill, 2024, for public comments and suggestions, with feedback sought by December 27, 2024.

For areas that are not under coal mining, the 2013 land acquisition law, or the older 1894 land acquisition law is used.

Poonam Devi, a resident of Manjhali Dadi village in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand, got a job after her family was displaced for a coal mine, but that garment factory shut down in 2024.

In Manjhali Dadi village of Dadikalan Panchayat, 40-year-old Poonam Devi recalls her family’s displacement due to Pakri Barwadih coal mining. They had been promised jobs when their land was acquired--she worked in a garment factory set up by Thriveni Sainik, a contractor for NTPC, while her husband, 42-year-old Vijay Kumar Mahato, drove a bulldozer for the mine. After about two years, in 2024, the garment factory shut down and Poonam lost her job.

Nancy Sahay, Hazaribagh's Deputy Commissioner, acknowledged that the employment initiative for displaced women, led by the mining company Thriveni Sainik, had been discontinued, creating difficulties for affected women. She added that the government is exploring alternative employment opportunities for them. She also mentioned that as families are displaced, they are issued displacement cards to ensure their identification, and that this is an ongoing process.

Andu Ram and Anandi Devi, residents of Sonvarsha village in Hazaribagh district, standing in front of their house which they have to demolish, as this land has been acquired for a coal project.

Anandi Devi, 55 and Andu Ram, 60, lost their land in 2016 to the Pakri Barwadih project, and have to soon vacate their home too. With the money for the land, they bought land in Damudih Hazaribagh, about 20 km away from their ancestral land. “Many villagers have moved wherever they could find land. We, too, will have to leave,” Anandi says. Andu says that a job is hard to find as skilled jobs are offered to outsiders while locals get only unskilled jobs.

Praveer Peter, a member of the Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, told IndiaSpend, "The lower level of education among local people results in greater harm to them, and even if the first generation affected by mining gets employment, the next generation doesn’t. Government companies have started outsourcing mining work to private companies, which has further exacerbated the employment and livelihood crisis."

In Deoria Khurd village, located in Keradari block adjacent to Barkagaon, where the Pakri Barwadih mine will be expanded, 58-year-old Bhikhalal Yadav said, “Our family's joint landholding was acquired by NTPC, and now our family is left with only 10 kattha of land.” About 79 kattha of land make up one hectare, according to a senior officer in Jharkhand’s land revenue department.

“Half of Deoria Khurd has already been surveyed, and people have received compensation. If our remaining land is acquired as well, it will be extremely difficult for us; we’ll even have to think about where to sit,” says his 26-year-old daughter-in-law, Sonia Kumari. “If we move to another village, it will be very challenging. Here, we keep cows and goats--how will we manage that elsewhere? The compensation we receive for acquired land is far less than the cost of purchasing land elsewhere.” She, and other displaced peoples, say that the rate of land in nearby areas is Rs 3-20 lakh per kattha, , depending on the area and proximity to the road, while the compensation amounts to Rs 20 to Rs 24 lakh per 0.4 hectare or per 31 kattha, as per the Hazaribagh District Land Acquisition Office.

The loss of land is also related to the loss of identity. “With the loss of land records (Khatiyan), people face an identity crisis. Khatiyan is required for obtaining caste certificates and residential proof, but when people don’t have it, it creates significant difficulties,” explains Ramnaresh Yadav, 45, a teacher in Deoria Khurd.

In addition, he says, the dust from the Pakri Barwadih mine is carried by air and water to the remaining fields in their village, reducing land fertility and affecting crop yields. “The land here used to be very fertile; we grew wheat and chickpeas. Chickpeas used to thrive with just light sprinkling, but that’s no longer the case now.”

A 2018 study by Poonam Tripathi, a research scholar at the University of Lucknow, found that displacement led to homelessness, joblessness, food insecurity, loss of access to common property, social disintegration and increased morbidity and mortality in scheduled tribes.

"Land acquisition for coal projects is done in different ways, and we only deal with cases related to land acquisition under the Land Acquisition Act. Issues related to coal-bearing areas, forest land, or government land are beyond our jurisdiction,” said Hazaribagh's District Land Acquisition Officer, Nirbhay Kumar. “The Pakri Barwadih coal project was approved before the 2013 land acquisition law, so the land acquisition is being done [in his area] under the 1894 Land Acquisition Act. As of now, 743.64 acres (300.94 hectares) of land has been acquired through our department, and payment has been made for 688.56 acres (278.65 hectares), while compensation for 55.07 acres (22.28 hectares) of land is still pending.” In other areas, which directly come under the mining areas, the CBA,1957 is used for land acquisition.

He said he did not know the exact number of affected families, as a single family might have multiple branches based on the number of adults. Further, not all land is acquired through this department.

Every 18-year-old is considered a separate family unit and is eligible for compensation. But there is disagreement on what should be the cutoff date. For instance, if land was acquired on paper 40 years ago, but the family was only asked to leave and paid compensation four years ago, the family demands that all adults at that time be considered for compensation, and not as per the adults in the family 40 years back.

Regarding the cutoff date to determine the number of adult family members among displaced families, Sahay, Hazaribagh's Deputy Commissioner, said, “This is a policy matter, and we cannot intervene much in it.” Currently the date of the notification of land acquisition is considered the cutoff date.

“Displacement is a major challenge in our district. Since 2014, several new mining projects have come up and many more are expected. Balancing the interests of displaced people while considering the importance of these development projects for the country's economic growth and energy needs is a challenge,” said Sahay. She added that in some villages, there is resistance to land acquisition for mining and such projects, while in other areas, fewer issues arise. She noted that disputes over compensation for acquired land often leads to dissatisfaction among people.

Smaller scale mining also impacts environment, people

Stone is usually mined in smaller parcels of land as compared to coal, but because of the large number of stone mines, and uncontrolled mining, it ends up impacting large areas, reporting shows. In the Dumka circle, there are 1,507 mining leases for minor minerals, with the highest number in Sahibganj (456, of which 83 are operational), followed by Pakur (415, with 99 operational), and Dumka (306, with 43 operational).

Pakur district, located in the Santhal Pargana region, about 330 km from Hazaribagh district in the northern Chotanagpur region, along with its neighboring district Sahibganj, is a major centre for stone mining.

Babuji Hembram, 34, from Salboni village, says, “Our village’s land has been taken for the stone mines, and since there is no local employment, people go out for work…Those who stay here work as laborers in the stone mines, while the mine owners make money.” He says dust from stone crushers, and due to mining, creates health problems, while the water table has also gone down in the area.

Manoj Kisku, head of the Navinagar Panchayat, says, “30-40% of the Santhal tribal people in this area go out for work because they don’t get local employment. They mainly go to West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.” He says that because of stone mining the population of several villages in the area, including Basmata, Pipaljori, Salboni and Khaparajola has left, leaving behind empty homes.

In the nearby village of Talpahari in Hiranpur block, a tribal youth from the village, requesting anonymity, says, “There is no space left for grazing cows due to the stone mining and crushers around our village. We had protested against it, but some powerful people in the village were allied with the miners.”

Proposed displacement commission

A 2003 study conducted by Nesar Ahmad for Indian Social Institute, New Delhi, titled "Women, Mining, and Displacement", found that between 1951 and 1995, 114,878 people were displaced in the unified Hazaribagh district, of which approximately 41% were from Scheduled Tribes and 11% from the Scheduled Caste communities. The study also says that while the tribal population constitutes 7.5% of the national population, they represented 40% of displaced people until 1990.

The Jharkhand Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy of 2008 recommends protecting the interests of Scheduled Tribes and local communities in the process of industrialisation. The policy suggests the use of barren, vacant, and non-agricultural land for mining and industrial purposes, rather than acquired land from tribals.

A Displacement Commission to collect data on displaced persons and conduct a socioeconomic survey, was announced by the government, led by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in July 2024.

"We are discussing the formation of the Displacement Commission and various aspects of its structure, and we will make a decision on this in the near future. We will gather data on how many families and people have been displaced due to various mining, industrial, and infrastructure projects in the state," said Jharkhand's Revenue Minister, Deepak Birua, in an interview with IndiaSpend. He said that currently, no concrete data are available on displaced peoples. When asked how long this process would take, the minister said, "We cannot specify a timeline right now, but we will initiate steps in this direction soon."

A senior official from the Revenue Department, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told IndiaSpend that no state in the country has a Displacement Commission that Jharkahnd could model its commission after. He said it was a challenging proposition as many projects were quite old, making it hard to gather accurate data. He further said that “efforts will be made in collaboration with the relevant departments, such as the mining department for those displaced by mining, and the irrigation department for projects like dams”.

When asked about his thoughts on the structure of the Displacement Commission, Sanjay Basu Malik, founder of the Jharkhand Jungle Bachao Andolan, a forest rights campaign, said that the government had not yet approached civil society about such a commission.

Malik says that even after 24 years since Jharkhand was formed, the state has failed to make rules for the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA Act), 1996 which strengthens Gram Sabhas in Scheduled Areas. Gram Sabha permission is required before land can be acquired in these areas. But because the law does not automatically apply, PESA does not currently apply to Jharkhand. The government was finalising the rules for the Act, as of December 2024.

In such situations, Malik says, the Forest Rights Act of 2006 is a powerful tool for villagers to protect their land. If villagers apply for forest land rights, it can act as an obstacle in the land acquisition process.

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