Marble Mining and Processing in Southern Rajasthan, Impact on Environment, leading to Degradation of the Aravalis

1. Marble Mining and Processing in Southern
Rajasthan, Impact on the Environment leading to
Degradation of the Aravalis
Presented by
Bhomik Shah
bhomikjain@gmail.com

2. Overview
Introduction
Context of the Aravalis & Marble Mining
Objective of the Study
Mining & Processing in the Study Area
Methodology
Business & Economic Scenario
Employment Opportunities
Tribal Development
Impact on the Environment
Degradation of the Aravalis
What can be done
Energy saving and Renewable Energy
Conclusion

3. Introduction
 Greek root “Mamaros”
 Technically: recrystallised variety of limestone
 It has 66% of the country’s marble reserves
 Rajasthan produces 85-95% of India’s total marble
production
 Tajmahal : Makrana (Rajasthan) marble

4. Context of the Aravalis and Marble Mining
 The Aravalis is most ancient
mountain chain of peninsular
Aravalis
India
 One of the oldest geological
formations of the world
 Stretch of 615 kms from
Delhi –Haryana-Rajasthan –
Gujarat 50,000 sq. kms area
 A rich source of minerals

5. Context of the Aravalis and Marble Mining
 Mining is second only to
agriculture as the world’s
oldest Industry
 Stone Age , Bronze age and
Iron Age
 Marble mining is an open
caste surface mining
 Use of heavy machinery,
huge manpower, fuel and
energy

6. Objective of the study
 To find the economics of marble industry and its impact on
tribal
 To assess socio-economic impacts and employment scenario
 To assess environmental impacts in the context of the
Aravalis
 To find cause effect relationship between marble mining and
degradation of the Aravalis

7. Marble Mining & Processing in the Study Area
 The study area is three dist. Of Raj: Udaipur, Rajsamand
and Banswara, Collectively Udaipur Zone
 Geographically forming Southern most part of the State
and tailing end of the Aravalis
 23°30’ N to 28°39N latitude and 74°24 E to 75°33 E
longitude

8. Marble Mining & Processing in the Study Area
 First marble mine in 1955 (Current total 1574)
 till 1980 only 9 mines, thereafter Geometrical progression
Increase in number of Mines
545
454
336
199
31
9
up to 1981-85 1986-90 1991-95 1996-00 after
1980 2000

9. Methodology
 Marble is found on vast horizontal area
 Cluster mining
 Mining belt development
Three mining belt, one from each district was chosen:
 Rishabdeo-Obri belt (Udaipur)-159 leases
 Rajanagar-Kelwa belt (Rajsamand) 239 leases
 Tripura-Sundari belt ( Banswara) 170 leases

10. Methodology
 A sample size of 30 households from each mining belt
 A sample size of 30 workers from each mining belt
 Two survey questionnaires were prepared in Hindi
 One for workers, other for households
 For household survey male above 40 years of age
 For workers no age criteria, mix age group

11. Marble Mining & Processing in the Study Area
 Total area under mine leases
is 1805 sq. hectares
Marble processing Industry:
Marble gang saw (350)
Marble tiling (40)
Marble arts and craft (35
Major)

12. Business and economic Scenario
 in 1950 total marble prod. of Raj: 17620 tones, revenue
1.17 lakh
Now the study area only produces 4.74 million (2006-7)
tones
 Annual royalty of Rs. 920 million (2006-7)
 Business sales of Rs.4,527 million (2006-7)
Excluding business done by arts and crafts and allied
sectors

13. Employment Generation
 A single mine employs 20-30 workers depending upon
lease size, most of them are labour class
 A single gang saw employs 20-22 workers
 Total employment around 37000
 More than 50% are local, rest emigrants from UP, Bihar
and MP
 Unskilled/semi-skilled/skilled labour-wage rates varies

14. Employment Generation
Workers survey : basic outcome:
 61.1% local
 No female employment
 Wages paid below govt. rates
 Average annual working days 270-300
 Lowest wage rate Rs.96 per shift
 Local workers as unskilled or semi skilled
 Emigrants from other states get higher wages
Average wages(Shift) Rs. Local: 104, Emigrants 187

15. Marble Mining and Tribal Development
Pre-mining phase:
 Were depend upon agriculture and cattle rearing
 No transportation facilities
 No easy access to health, education and other basic
amenities
 Disguised employment
No cash in hand
Land mortgage or selling only resort in emergency

16. Marble Mining and Tribal Development
Post-mining phase:
 No more depend upon agriculture or cattle rearing
 Web of roads, transportation facilities
 Easy access to health, education and other amenities
 Opening of employment opportunities
 Agriculture as secondary occupation
 Additional family income
 Increased purchasing power

17. Marble Mining and Tribal Development
Household Survey: basic Outcomes
1.14 person per household employed in marble mining
industry
 Rs. 3556 monthly income
Agriculture as an extra support
Many people work in multiple shifts, additional income
Estimated cash inflow:
670.07 million rupees annual cash inflow as wage earnings
(assuming 285 days of employment)

18. Marble Mining and Tribal Development
Negative Impact
 Orientation towards money and wage earnings
 Detachment from the nature, especially forests
 Detachment from their own customs and traditions
 Apathy towards decreasing forest cover and vegetation
 86.66% people did not show any concern for forest
 Health hazards

19. Impact on the Environment
 Mining implies selection, selection implies rejection
 Being opencast mining: requires topsoil & Vegetation
removal
 Unscientific mining method
 Heavy machinery
 Fuel consumption
 Water consumption
 Energy consumption
 Solid waste generation
 Heavy transportation

20. Degradation of the Aravalis
Geomorphic Disequilibrium:
 Average depth of marble pit 20-30m
 Marble pit with 40-50m depth
 As lease area extends over 1805 sq. hectares: a huge
volume
Blasting, chain pulling weaken internal rock structure
Disruption of geology

21. Degradation of the Aravalis
Crevices
Geomorphic Disequilibrium:
Visible crevices on the hillocks of the Aravalis in Udaipur District

22. Degradation of the Aravalis
Waste Overburden:
 50% of the mineral is waste
 Vast area under dumping
sites
 2.37 million tones of waste
generation, 1.42 million tones
of solid waste annually
 Artificial hillocks of solid
marble waste

23. Degradation of the Aravalis
Waste Overburden:
 1.28 million tones of marble slurry
Discharging on barren lands or roadsides
Hillocks of waste hillocks of waste are higher than the
Aravalis
 This solid waste
composes hazardous
components
 Loss of aesthetic
beauty

24. Degradation of the Aravalis
Impact on Biodiversity:
Flora:
 Deforestation on vast area
 Denuded Aravali hillocks
 Mining and waste-dumping
affected a lot
 Once very dense forested
land
 Now scattered vegetation
 Massive loss after 1990s (
Extreme Mining)

25. Degradation of Aravalis
the Aravalis
Impact on Biodiversity:
Flora:
 One researcher from Honduras visited forests of the
Aravalis in 1987-88
Found teak and bamboo as climax species
Today no sign of both of these two species in this area
 Species like Zizyphus mauritiana and Phoenix sylvestris
have almost vanished
 Huge reduction in vegetation cover

26. Degradation of the Aravalis
Impact on Biodiversity:
Fauna:
 Last panther in 1991 (Rishabdeo)
 Tripura- Sundari was heaven for Nilgai till 1991-92
 Rajsamand lake attracted Saharan migratory bird
Decrease in vegetation Snatched home of wildlife species
 Noise: deflected birds, insects and butterflies
 species migrated from here created pressure on other
forests
 Natural control of population

27. Degradation of Aravalis
Impact on Agriculture:
 Dust particles layers on standing crop, on open fields
 Nearer the fields, more the dust layer
 Effect on health of the crop
 impact on soil texture
 Ultimately impact on productivity
 Gang saw unit also generates dust particles
 Scattered fields, small fields size
 Farmers do not weigh yield
 Increase in the salinity of the soil

28. Degradation of Aravalis
Impact on Agriculture:
Parameter Belt A (Udaipur) Belt B (Rajsamand) Belt C (Banswara)
Rishabdeo-obri Rajanagar-Kelwa Tripura-Sundari
Productivity Decreasing(30) Decreasing(29) Don’t Decreasing(29)
Increasing/Decreasing know(1) Increasing(1)
Use of Fertilizers Increasing(30) Increasing(29) Not Increasing(25) Not
Increasing/Decreasing Using(1) Using(3) Not Sure(2)
Use of Pesticides Increasing(10) Increasing(07) Not Increasing(03) Not
Increasing/Decreasing Not Using(20) Using(13) Same (5) Using(21) Same(6)
Seed Quality Market Market Purchased Market
From previous Purchased(23) (28) Previous Crop(2) Purchased(25)
crop/Market Previous Crop(7) Previous Crop(5)
purchased

29. Degradation of the Aravalis
Water Scarcity and Water Pollution:
 Single marble gang saw consumes 43000 liters/hr water
 Udaipur zone has 350 such gang saw
 Per day water consumption (1shift) 120.4 million liters of
water
 Annual water consumption 34.314 billion liters of water
 Can fulfill annual water req. of 15 lakh Indians
 Marble mines also consume millions of liters of water
 Water scarcity problem
 Rajsamand groundwater lowered 7.6 m. b/w 1994-2004
 Death of Banas and Gomati rivers

30. Degradation of the Aravalis
Water Scarcity and
Water Pollution:
 Waste disposal near
water bodies
 Discharge of slurry in
water bodies
 Gang saw located on
river sides in Rishabdeo
belt
Reduction in storage
capacity and loss of
aquatic life

31. Degradation of the Aravalis
Fuel and Energy Consumption:
 Heavy machinery require fuel
 Equipments require electricity
 One gang saw unit consumes
45kwh elect
Annual elect. consumption by
marble mining in Raj. is 1500 MW
annually (PWC project based
calculation)

32. What Can be Done
 Use of advanced technology
 Discarding unscientific methods: Blasting. Rope and
bucket
 Use of marble slurry in brick manufacturing and toy
making
 Limiting the max. depth of marble pit
 Proper discharge of waste and slurry
 Green belt development
 Restoration of abandoned mines

33. Saving Energy & use of Renewable Energy
 Replacing worn out pumps, motors and machinery
 Switching from analog to digital control of equipments
 Adopting Variable Speed Drive(VSD) in motorized
equipments which will save apprx. 400-500MW annually
 Laser-scanning and digital photogrammetric technology
 Solar energy usage in tiling plants, where energy needs
are low
 Use of Photovoltaic (PV)solar system ( in China)
 Use of Geothermal energy in mining (South Australia)
 Use of biomass powered electricity (Brazil)

34. Conclusion
 Alarming situation in the mining areas
 Total degradation of Aravalis
 Need to take action
 Participatory approach
 Need based mining
 Energy efficient mining

35. Thanks