GOLD HUNT IN THE SUBARNAREKHA

Transcription

1 GOLD HUNT IN THE SUBARNAREKHA A Report Prepared for GOING FOR GOLD: SAFE LIVELIHOODS FOR INFORMAL GOLD MINERS IN SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA ARC Linkage Project led by Dr Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt and Dr Keith Barney September 2015, Canberra: The Australian National University Prepared by: Tarun Kanti Bose

2 Contact Details Mr Tarun Kanti Bose Independent Journalist New Delhi, India Contact: Tarun Kanti Bose Dr Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt Senior Fellow Resources, Environment and Development Group Crawford School of Public Policy The Australian National University ACTON, ACT 2602, Australia Telephone: Website: Dr Keith Barney Lecturer Resources, Environment & Development Group Crawford School of Public Policy The Australian National University ACTON, ACT 2602, Australia Telephone: keith.barney@anu.edu.au Website: 1

3 CONTENTS GOLD HUNT... 3 SAHARBERA... 4 RUDIA NARGADIH... 8 MOISARA RANCHI DISTRICT SINDUARI PALNA WEST SINGHBHUM DISTRICT JHUMPURA METHODOLOGY

4 GOLD HUNT Subarnarekha, meaning streak of gold is the lifeline of the tribal and fisher folk communities inhabiting the Chotanagpur belt. Some tribal communities who were traditionally accustomed to mrigaya -r hunting in local forests for small game now make a living sifting gold out of the river s alluvium. Alluvial gold-washing at an artisanal scale is carried on in the sands and gravels of the river throughout its length but is more prominent around the Chandil dam both upstream and downstream areas from the reservoir. In fact, artisanal gold mining has expanded as a livelihood activity since the construction of Subarnarekha dam. The construction of the dam displaced tribal populations from their villages and lands, forcing the oustees to take up gold panning in absence of any other option. In recent years, the district/block officials have been assiduously trying to regulate artisanal gold mining by locating, identifying and stopping the miners from getting access to the river. The task has proven difficult due to the dearth of quantitative data and the confusion over the jurisdiction of the police, as well as the definition of what comprises an illegal activity. As described by Mihir Deb, Garima Tiwari and Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt in International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment (Vol. 22, No. 3, September 2008, ) titled Artisanal and small scale mining in India: selected studies and an overview of the issues written, Artisanal mining is carried out by indigenous communities in remote locations on and from common lands. Such mining is generally unauthorized as it is unlicensed, and commonly seen as illegal. Strictly speaking, it might be better to describe such mining non-legal as often the operations are beyond the purview of the law. For example, panning for gold from the alluvium on the Subarnarekha riverbed in Jharkhand state is a non-legal artisanal activity, carried out mostly by local indigenous communities that would fall in the non-legal domain. The situation is complicated by the lack of quantitative data, and the confusion over jurisdiction and definition. River Subarnarekha originates near Piska/ Nagri in Ranchi and traverses a long distance through Ranchi, Seraikela-Kharsawan and East Singhbhum districts in Jharkhand. Thereafter it 3

5 flows for shorter distances through West Midnapore district in West Bengal for 83 kilometres (52 miles) and Balasore district of Odisha. Figure 1: SUBARNAREKHA RIVER IN SERAIKELA-KHARSAWAN DISTRICT SAHARBERA Saharbera village on the banks of Subarnarekha River is situated in Kharsawan block of Seraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand. Wading through the currents of the water and the rocks pounding the feet, reached the other corner of the river, to see the shallow wells, which is known as dingy in the local parlance. Shallow wells are dug on the banks and the river water is drawn by motor pumps. 4

6 Figure 2: SAHARBERA VILLAGE 5

7 Figure 3: A VILLAGER USING WOODEN PAN TO EXTRACT GOLD Figure 3: A miner covers his head with wooden pan after day s work Wooden pan like a conclave tray, locally known as donga, which is made up of the bark of an age old rare tree is filled ¾ th of gravel and mud from the shallow well and is held just under the water, tilted slightly away. Those working on the wooden pan begin swirling the water from Figure 4: MOTOR PUMPS DRAWS WATER FROM THE RIVER side to side, with a slight forward tossing motion. Then sufficient force is used to move the surface and the lighter gravel out over the edge of the pan. Levelling the pan from time to time and shaking it back and forth cause the light material to come to the surface and the gold 6

8 settles in the bottom. The pan costs between Indian Rupees 1500 and 2000 and it can be used for several years if maintained. To reach Saharbera men cycle through 15 to 20 kilometres and women walk to cross the Dalma range, a wide swathe of hills and dense forest facing wild elephants for panning gold from the alluvium tract of the riverbed. Figure 4: SHALLOW WELLS DUG EARLIER FOR EXTRACTING GOLD As 50 year old Arun Singh Munda comes from Faranga village on Dalma range he said, I come along with other villagers, work 5 to 6 hours under the hot sun, do panning to extract gold from gravel and alluvial deposit on the banks of Subarnarekha River. In most of the villages in Dalma range, villagers are living in abysmally poor condition. Either they toil in the field or work as construction worker or sell fishes or vegetables. The earnings were quite inadequate pushing us to desperation, leaving us with no other option but to earn a living out of river s gold. Village men or women either walk or use their cycle to reach the bank of Subarnarekha River in Saharbera, 7 Figure 5: Figure ARUN 6: SINGH DULAL MUNDA SOHISH

9 Pudasil, Bhuiyadih or Manikui. Then they identify a spot where we start working to extract gold from the dust or gravel. We work in Saharbera for most of the days in a week from in the morning till 4.00 pm. The gold extracted by me is of a size of a mustard seed or posto (poppy seed). In a week, I earn between Rs.200 and Rs.300. We sell the gold to an agent in our village. We don t sell it to a goldsmith in Chandil or Jamshedpur as we are afraid of being cheated, although, we know that local middleman also cheats us. says Arun Singh Munda. We meet Dulal Sohish at his village, he said, When summer sets in the gold extraction is quite low. It picks up in the rainy days. Most of us are able to extract 1.5 or 2 rati in a week and we are paid Rs for one rati by the middleman. According to a local jeweller in Chandil, rati is equal to gm. The Indian standard of weighing gold is Bhari. One bhari is divided in 16 annas and 1 anna into 4 rati. There are 64 rati in 1 bhari. In the present day standard, 1 bhari is equal to grams. The present market value of 24 carat gold in India is Rs.29,290 per 10 grams. RUDIA NARGADIH In Rudia village, 7 kms from Chandil in Seraikela-Kharsawan district, a team from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has been drilling since May-June 2011, where there is a potential reserve of gold. Seating at the back of the motorbike when we move through the uneven dusty tracts, we reach the banks of Subarnarekha. When I ask Chunni Layak, she says sharing the secret of making gold with outsiders will bring bad luck. We ve kept it hidden for generations and the only time when someone came to know about it, ill luck fell on the village. She refers to the persistent problem created by the district/block official to stop mining. 8

10 While we were being objected to take photos, physically handicapped 32 year old Ram Chandra Figure 7: RUDIA Layak intervenes and tries to silence those objecting to our queries, he said, From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Chunni, along with other women and men, will be in the water, sifting sand and gravels and the gold settles at the bottom of the wooden pan. When the darkness of the night engulfs entire village, Ram Chandra Layak though physically handicapped but moves faster on a bicycle and organises a meeting of the villagers introduces us to 40 men and women, who take part in panning daily on the riverbank to extract the gold from alluvial deposit on Subarnarekha River. 50-year old Dal Govind Layak, who has been working for over 3 decades on the Subarnarekha banks to extract gold. He said, Majority of those involved in gold panning feel Figure 8: RAM CHANDRA LAYAK 9

11 that it s a low earning job. Apart from working in the field, villagers have no other options left but to do gold panning. Even men and women, who find it difficult to do hard labour, involve in extracting gold from the riverbank. Nargadih, the neighbouring village which is 6-7 kilometres from Rudia, men and women from fisher-folk community had been involved in gold mining on the banks of Subarnarekha River, for generations. 75 percent of the villagers were involved in panning gold but now it s declining. As remarked by 26-year old Dilip Sardar, Gold extraction on the banks of Subarnarekha River does not fetch us money. Earlier, villagers involved in gold extraction got good returns selling gold to the local middleman. Now I work on the field and make paper packets to eke out a living. During the monsoon, men and women start working on Figure 9: DILIP SARDAR the riverside searching for gold. MOISARA Moisara village, situated in Ichagarh block of Seraikela-Kharsawan district, on the 10 Figure 10: MOISARA

12 Subarnarekha, women belonging to backward and tribal communities, made a living by selling gold collected from the river for generations. We follow 60 year old Dukini Lohar, to the riverside. Along with other women, she was in the water, scraping mud and gravels in a wooden tray and panning for gold, which settles at the bottom. At sunset, she heads back home. I have been panning gold from gravel or alluvial dust in the riverside since the age of five. I earn between Rs a week. Dukini is accompanied by Manju Gope, Gurubari Gope and Bimada Gope to the riverside through muddy and slushy field. It has been a week I have not been able to extract gold from the gravel or alluvial tract of the riverside. Dukini shows how much gold she had collected in 7days till 22 nd March. Figure 10: DUKINI LOHAR Figure 12: DUKINI SHOWS GOLD SHE HAD EXTRACTED 11

13 Figure 11: USING SHOVEL TO COLLECT GRAVEL AND MUD ON THE WOODEN PAN RANCHI DISTRICT SINDUARI Sinduari is located about 12 km south of Tamar in Ranchi district. It s situated at about 55 km from Ranchi on NH 33 on the way to Jamshedpur. In Sindauri, exploration of gold has been since Ten boreholes were drilled from west to east, out of which two boreholes showed traces of gold mineralisation. 12

14 Figure 12: GOLD EXPLORATION IN SINDUARI PALNA Palna village is situated in the Tamar block of Ranchi district on the Kharkari riverbank. Here shallow wells are dug and water is drawn out by motor pumps for gold panning. As it was Sunday so it was a weekly holiday for those extracting gold on the river bank. 13

15 Tribals from 10 to 15 villages reach the riverside for prospecting gold. 100 to 150 villagers work on the Kharkai riverbank by digging shallow wells, said Shiv Lochan Singh Munda, Pradhan (Head) of Palna village. Figure 13: KHARKAI RIVER IN PALNA WEST SINGHBHUM DISTRICT JHUMPURA Jhumpura is situated in Sonua block and located in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. Prior to the construction of Punsawa dam on Sanjay River in 1980s, the tribal villagers extracted gold from the dust of this riverbed. 14

16 Figure 14: GOLD WAS OF A SIZE OF ONE PAISE COIN OR GRAIN OF RICE 35-year old Sailey Singh Purti said, In the 1980 s, my parents and other villagers regularly strained water of Sanjay River in the hope of finding gold. Whatever they extracted, either it was a size of one-paisa coin or a grain of rice. After the construction of the Punsawa dam, villagers have no other option but to migrate to Mumbai or other districts of Maharashtra, Kolkata, Delhi or other cities for their livelihood as a wage labourer. Sitting nearby, 35-year old Narayan Purti shows us a weighing machine and touchstone, which was used to test gold. Figure 15: TOUCHSTONE 15

17 Figure 16: NARAYAN SHOWS WEIGHING MACHINE & WOODEN PAN In the village, tribal land was acquired by the Government for the construction of Punsawa dam but none of the tribal people resisted land acquisition in the name of development. Ho tribals living in the village were convinced to sacrifice their land without any compensation. If Ramesh Jerai of Jharkhandis Organisation for Human Rights (JOHAR) had not intervened then we would have lost our land. Though many of us gave their land without questioning the Government, said Kalyan Purti, who runs a cycle repairing shop. Now, many of the villagers have to walk over 8 to 10 kilometres to reach Rowauli village, crossing the dam for extracting gold. The way to Rowauli is quite inaccessible and the villagers have to pass through dense forest. There is always a lurking danger of being attacked by wild elephants. Shallow wells are dug on the riverside to extract gold. METHODOLOGY To observe the artisanal gold mining process at the alluvium tracts of the Subarnarekha river in Saraikela-Kharsawan district, Kharkhai River in Ranchi district and Sonua River in West Singhbhum district, we conducted field studies by interacting with the miners at the riverbanks, interviewing them at their villages and by organizing focus group meetings in the evenings. 16

18 During our interactions, interviews and focus group meetings, our efforts were to understand and acquire answers to the following questions: How is the artisanal gold mining in the riverbed are conducted and what are ingenious traditional skills adopted to extract gold from the alluvium tract? How does the age-old practice of gold panning employed by the miners deliver? Why indigenous and backward communities have adopted gold panning, where they have to toil long hours with very less of returns? Has the drawing water through motor pumps had helped in extracting gold after excavation? What positive role could be played in introducing machines for earlier detection and future course of action? We tried to get answers to these questions, in a case study format in reportage style. A case study approach permitted the intensive observation and analysis of a limited set of specifically targeted sites. We used one-to-one dialogue, interaction and focus group discussion methods to deepen our understanding of artisanal gold mining, techniques adopted and the people who are involved in it. Our approach leaves the possibility that factors not openly identified with the framework used in research methodology but it helps in explaining artisanal gold mining and the people involved in it. It also permits to discover the issues important in understanding miners and their problems but not developed in analytical perspective. 17