Chalkari, the land of unrequited promises and unjust transition

Unjust transition: "Just Transition sounds good in speeches. But what we need first is a just revival," Vishal Kumar (41) is brutally honest when describing the condition of his village Chalkari.

Located in Peterwar block of Jharkhand’s Bokaro district, Chalkari is neither here nor there, literally, when it comes to development. The village is surrounded by River Damodar on the east, west and north and comes under the Bokaro and Kargali coal mine area.

The 1980s heralded change when Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) acquired village land in three phases for mining. It came about after an expert committee on extracting medium coking coal located in 6,436 acres comprising a railway line, River Damodar and neighbouring villages of Chalkari, Khetko, Angwali, Jhunjhko, Pichhri, Phusro, Jaridih and others recommended rerouting of  the railway line and the river in 1976.

Known as Damodar and Rail Diversion (DR&RD) Project, the idea was to launch coal mining in the area after diverting the river and railway line. In 1982, an Eastern Railway project worth Rs 15.93 crore was approved to redirect the railway line between Jarangdih and Phusro. However, delays in acquiring land and addressing rehabilitation issues slowed progress.

By 1991, the project’s cost was updated to Rs 48.78 crore, with completion expected by December 2000, extending beyond the original deadline of June 1997. A 2015 government report noted the cost had ballooned to Rs 2,583.31 crore, with estimated mineable reserves of 69.26 million tonnes.

Catch-22 situation

Throughout the course of these ‘positive’ developments, hopes and promises of a better future kept the people of Chalkari and neighbouring villages going. They were assured of employment, resettlement and a stake in the anticipated industrial advancements if they gave up their lands for the project.

Kumar clearly remembers the hype and hope over CCL jobs while growing up. “Almost every teenager felt that two acres of land could get them a job in CCL. In fact, this was the reason most of the children had formal education,” he says.

Kumar was the only student in Chalkari to pass the matriculation examination in 1998, a time when he saw the elders of the family losing hope on CCL jobs. So, he decided to get a job himself. Today, he works at ESIC Medical College, Mumbai, as a junior medical laboratory technologist. Unlike him, some others who got a diploma degree in coal mining have been jobless for over a decade.

Manohar Nayak (50) had just passed 12th board exam when the DR&RD Project idea came up. “My name was present on the list of 450 candidates who were offered jobs in 1993. But then, there was a delay in hiring.”

"We gave away two acres each, hoping for a better future. Now, decades later, we are left with no land, no jobs and no future,” says Nayak. His elder brother is employed at CCL, but Nayak and his younger brother did not make it. Still jobless, Manohar is Chalkari panchayat incharge of a national political party.

“At the time of land acquisition, CCL had promised 1,700 jobs to the displaced. However, only 632 jobs were provided, and the project subsequently stalled,” Kashinath Kewat, general secretary, Visthaapit Sangharsh Samanvay Samiti, an organisation fighting for the rights of those displaced by mining in Bokaro, tells 101Reporters.

A CCL official on condition of anonymity says that compensation was provided only for 748.8 acres of land.

Girbala Devi (45), a homemaker, is among the many villagers awaiting compensation and the job promised. “If the job had been provided, would we be living like this?” Devi retorts, when asked if her late father-in-law Inju Singh had managed to get a job in exchange for land. 

“His [Inju Singh’s] employment was cancelled a few days after it appeared on the list. It was said that he will be employed later. But that day never came, and we never got the full compensation,” adds Devi’s husband Dubraj Singh (50), who belongs to Other Backward Caste and works as a daily wage labourer for Rs 300 to 400 per day. He gets only 10 to 15 days of work in a month. The couple has a polio-affected child.

The family lives in a mud house in Chalkari South panchayat, which does not even get drinking water supply. They make do with underground water extracted from a hand pump. Like them, around 10,000 residents of Chalkari South and North live without basic infrastructure, such as uninterrupted power supply, clean drinking water and hospitals, despite CCL's rehabilitation and resettlement plans.   

Village head Akleshwar Thakur tells 101Reporters that despite numerous discussions and memorandums to the CCL general manager, and chairman and managing director, requesting basic services, the village received nothing but assurances. Frustrated villagers even gheraoed the CCL General Manager Office, Kargali, on March 8, 2023, but without any success.

Since their lands were notified as acquired under the terms of the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957, the land cannot be returned to the owners if the project did not start within the specific time.  

"We cannot sell our land for urgent needs, like paying for our children's education or funding a daughter’s wedding," says Thakur, as he emphasises the need to either start the project or return the land to villagers. “Reclaiming the land would allow people to engage in agriculture and establish businesses. Now, migration is on the rise, with 400 youth leaving the village in search of work in recent years,” he adds.

Kewat says the last attempt to start the project happened in 2011, but the government backtracked within a few days. “From our discussions with the management, it has become clear that the project will not begin. The only solution now is to denotify the land, return it to villagers and compensate for the losses they have suffered for the last 40 years. The CCL has informed us that they have written a letter to the Ministry of Coal in this regard.” 

Confirming this, K Ramakrishna, CCL General Manager of Bokaro and Kargali area, who is responsible for DR&RD Project, tells 101Reporters that the project is not economically viable. “Right now, a discussion is going on with the ministry on land denotification,” he informs.

Just Transition, or Just Forgotten?

At the core of Just Transition (JT) is the concept that no one is left out or pushed behind in the transition to low-carbon and environmentally sustainable economies and societies. This transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is described as fair, and protecting workers, communities and industries affected by the transition.

India has committed to net-zero emissions by 2070. In 2022, the government backed by the World Bank launched its first social plan for the coal-dependent people who will lose their livelihood and basic services due to transition. Bokaro was among the two districts from across India chosen for this pilot project. 

Of Bokaro's 25 mines, 12 are operational. The rest were closed either due to lack of technical clearance, mergers or exhaustion. The plan aims to ensure "honourable living conditions" and create new livelihood opportunities, with learnings from the pilot to be used across the country in regions where transition from coal mining would happen.

Kewat feels the initial buzz over JT has died out. “Not a single representative from the JT Task Force has reached out to us for discussions,” he informs.

While JT Task force in general covers the economic diversification for the entire district of Bokaro and focuses on areas where coal mines are closed or will be closed, no need has been felt to make special provisions for regions where mining never started.

Asked about JT prospects in areas where lands were acquired but the project did not begin, Ajay Kumar Rastogi, the head of Just Transition Task Force set up by the Jharkhand government, evaded questions. “You are talking about the land acquisition issue, and it is not within the mandate of the task force. It falls under the larger welfare of the people, which the government can answer," he tells 101Reporters. 

"The entire district of Bokaro is connected with mines, and we are preparing an economic diversification plan, not for one specific mine but for the entire district. We have conducted an extensive survey in 14 districts to identify those dependent on mines and are working on alternative livelihoods and economic diversification of the state,” he details about the road map the task force is working on.

Claiming no information on JT, Ramakrishna says that CCL has rehabilitated people where mining projects have started. “What can we do in places where mining projects have not taken off,” he asks.

DR&RD Project Officer Dineshwar Majhi also feigns innocence about the JT pilot in Bokaro. “I have not heard of any updates on the DR&RD Project since 2001. The project from the very beginning had problems. The land belonged to the forest department and villagers, and we were not able to acquire them. The project cost kept rising and now the estimates are too high.”

So far, efforts towards JT seems like the tip of an iceberg. There is no clarity on the concrete measures to be taken/taken under the project. The only thing that has happened on the ground is the survey in mining areas. How JT will pan out in Jharkhand is still not clear.

Recognising that there have been historical wrongs, Sandeep Pai, an expert on global energy transition especially focused on coal sector dynamics to just transition and director of think tank Swaniti Global, tells 101Reporters that any transition plan must consider historical injustices that has happened, including to those affected due to a coal project not getting started. “Any JT plan without focusing on restorative justice for the affected communities would be unjust.”

“There is no universal definition of Just Transition. The definition changes depending on the government or affected communities. For a few, it is about closure of mine. For others, it can be justice and fairness to people. However, clear understanding is that there are no losers when just transition happens,” he details, while adding that procedural (affected people should be consulted), restorative and distributive justice should be served.   

Jharkhand JT Task Force recommendations would come by the end of this year, and detailed feedback and deliberations with all stakeholders might follow. Maybe, there is a silver lining in this draft for the people of Chalkari.uthor and the publi. 101Reporters/SP