Coal India the monopoly producer of Coal in India and responsible for providing almost half of India’s Energy Requirement is a very inefficient organization is well know.Corruption and pilferage of massive amounts of coal is a well known fact\u00a0 to all industry participants.In fact stealing of coal is a\u00a0 major livelihood for lakhs of poor Indians in coal belt areas.What is not well known is that Coal India has flouted all norms of environment and conservation.It has not restored sites of open cast and underground mining leading to massive losses for the local environment and citizens.Sand meant to fill up the old mines has been sold in the market for profits.RTI application has shown that this government maharatna has been negligent towards it duties in a huge scale.No wonder there are so many protests for land acquisitions by industry and the government given the degradation and pollution that these companies do.<\/p>\n
The Disadvantages of Coal <\/a>are many but still most of India’s power plants are being built using coal as fuel.Here is a recap of the major cons of Coal<\/p>\n Greenhouse Gas Emissions\u00a0<\/strong>– One of the biggest cons of Coal Energy is that it releases Carbon Dioxide which has been sequestered for millions of years in the dead bodies of plant and animals.This transfer the Carbon from the Earth to the Environment leading to the Global Warming Effect.Global Treaties have failed in putting a Cost on this,though individual countries are tying to account for this through Carbon Taxes and Cap and Trade.<\/p>\n 2)\u00a0Coal Mining Deaths\u00a0<\/strong>– Coal Mining has resulted in thousands of deaths each year ever since man discovered coal.Note Coal Deaths happen not only in countries which don\u2019t have good safety regulations like China but also in developed countries like USA and New Zealand.<\/p>\n 3)\u00a0Devastation of Earth and Scenery Near Coal Mines<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Open Cast Mining of Coal has resulted in destruction of the habitat and destruction of the scenery.It leads to removal of trees and pollution of air and water in areas surrounding the mines.Coal Mine Fires<\/a>\u00a0have burned for hundreds of year underground and make living in those areas hazardous.Those burning underground can be difficult to locate and many cannot be extinguished. Fires can cause the ground above to subside, their combustion gases are dangerous to life, and breaking out to the surface can initiate surface fires as well.<\/p>\n 4)\u00a0Displacement of Humans due to Mining Destruction\u00a0<\/strong>– In West Bengal,India people are being displaced in huge numbers as the hollowing of the earth due to underground coal mining has made those places unsafe as the\u00a0\u00a0Land Caves in<\/a>\u00a0without warning.<\/p>\n