Opening up coal sector will hit ecosystem hard

Pollution begins from the stage of mining, with coal dust spreading over entire towns, and underground fires burning, as in the case of Jharia in Jharkhand. These blackened villages are literally hell on earth, as are the mines themselves. The next stage of transportation, by rail, road or ship, is equally polluting. Still worse is the use of coal for thermal power.

Black diamond, really? Indian coal has a high ash content and cannot be substituted for coking coal. Coal is also the dirtiest source of energy.

Tara Kartha

Former director, National Security Council Secretariat

Recently, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, while launching the UN Report on ‘Comprehensive response to Covid’, remarked that coal was not the way to go in recovery plans after a pandemic that owes its rise to deforestation and unbearable pollution levels. Like most such papers of the international body, it addresses far too many issues to cater to everybody’s interests, but its core recommendation is valid. It observes: “The better we manage the health of our ecosystems, the better we manage human health and the spread of zoonotic diseases.”

In simple words, if the forests live, humankind lives. If it dies, that’s the end of our species. This simple truism seems to evade Indian policy-makers. There was little doubt that the UN chief was referring to Prime Minister Modi’s announcement of the auction of 41 coal blocks to private players, and which is expected to garner some Rs 33,000 crore over the next decade.

India is one of the largest producers of coal, second only to China, mining some 700 million tonnes this year. Yet, it also imported some 235 million tonnes, which is not just expensive, but also leads to strategic dependencies. On the face of it, India’s decision to open up coal seems logical in terms of restoring the economy, and creating employment. Yet a reliable report indicates that the coal sector accounts for about 0.8 per cent of total employment. And here’s another problem. Indian coal has a high ash content, and cannot be substituted for coking coal. So, we’re going to continue to import anyway. Then there is the undeniable fact that coal is the dirtiest source of energy. Pollution begins from the stage of mining, with coal dust spreading over entire towns, and underground fires burning — as in the case of Jharia in Jharkhand — since 1915.

These blackened villages are quite literally hell on earth, as are the mines themselves. The next stage of transportation is equally polluting— by road or rail or ship — as in the case of the hapless Mumbaikars near Haji Bunder Jetty. Wholesale contamination of water bodies by fly ash slurry has proved disastrous. Still worse is the use of coal for thermal power due to the release of particulate matter into the air that has become a primary source of pollution even in Delhi NCR.

The reasons for most of this can be found in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report on Coal India and its subsidiaries, which shows almost routine flouting of environmental rules. Despite the Supreme Court stepping in to push enforcement, expert assessments indicate lack of will in implementation. This is the status of coal in this country, and yet the government plans to raze down pristine and contiguous forests to erode even those few parameters that existed so far.

In this regard, India is going in exactly the opposite direction to countries like Germany and Italy, who despite being among the worst hit by the corona crisis, have centred clean energy in economic revival policies. This is not easy, and Merkel’s ambitious Green Recovery plan was debated for more than 21 hours. As befitting one of the most forward looking world leaders, Chancellor Merkel’s $145 billion package breaks from the traditional sweeteners to the powerful industry sectors. It turns away from combustion engines to battery powered cars, to ‘green hydrogen’ energy for steel plants and other heavy industry, and among other measures, spends $1 billion to cut aircraft emissions by 30 per cent.

It’s far from perfect. But the direction is set. Doubters will say Germany can afford such ‘luxuries’. But Italy, with severe economic issues even before the pandemic, also plans the same route, with Milan leading the way. Spain has signed on to one of the largest solar energy projects, while three Australian cities, including the capital, have seen 100 per cent shift to renewable energy. It’s not just about clean energy. Sydney, for instance, will save about half a million dollars over the next few years in energy costs.

Prime Minister Modi had early on emphasised renewable energy in his plans for India, with his speech at the Climate Action Summit outlining the strides India has made towards reaching 450 gigawatt by 2022. There was the promise of the International Solar Alliance, with some 122 countries signing on. But capacity addition has suffered with only 6.5 GW of solar power added in 2018-19 compared to 9.4 GW in 2017-18. Target was slashed last year by 23 per cent due to bureaucratic somnolence and states' usual disregard to signed power purchase

agreements. Small programmes like rooftop solar projects and off grid solar programmes for farmers exist, but remain completely unknown to the public with the Ministry of Renewable Energy’s website completely opaque on these initiatives.

Battered by cyclones, floods, disease and other symptoms of climate change, India will follow the Prime Minister if Atmanirbhar Bharat restores India’s traditional forest wealth and holy rivers to the glories of the past. The PMO should use Covid as an opportunity to push ministries towards a massive outreach to the people, in popularising alternative power sources, even while farming out renewable energy research. It is the direction the Prime Minister has long been pushing for. As industrial greed kicks in, only a groundswell of popular support will help. But that’s something this Prime Minister is adept at. Now, just go for it.