OCCUPATIONAL MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY AMONG COAL WORKERS AND MINING COMMUNITIES PROXIMATE TO COAL MINING AREAS- A CASE STUDY OF JAINTIA HILLS DISTRICT IN MEGHALAYA

Abstract

The coal sector of Meghalaya provides the rural people and migrants the means of livelihood. It is an artisanal and small-scale mining which obtain minerals illegally. The present study examines the working conditions and conditions of work of coal workers at the mines which endangers the lives of miners daily. The researcher conducted a household survey with a total sample size of 180 households. Data were collected at the household and individual level surveyed from different coal bearing villages. The problems of environmental degradation are a growing concern to the mined and unmined areas yet on the other side the more complex effects are that unscientific mining is also inextricably associated to different health hazards. The result shows that most mining households with 53% performed work at very deep underground pits of a depth higher than 121 feet below the ground level and 46% of the households reveals to have work in narrow rat holes which are dug horizontally and the distance of its ranging from 1000-1500 metres. Meanwhile the illegal activity pushes to continue extraction into the remote pristine forests which are far from government hospitals, schools, have no transportation service and complete absence of work safety conduct. KEYWORDS: Informal mining, coal workers, rat-hole mines, mortality, morbidity, health conditions, Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya.