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Mining plays an important role in the development process by converting mineral resources into a form of capital that contributes to a nation’s output (Davis & Tilton 2005). It provides an important structure for the development of countries that are endowed with rich mineral resources (Ejdemo & Soderholm, 2011). Additionally, mining is also an environmentally destructive activity (Aswathanarayana, 2005). It takes place on the natural environment, disturbing areas around where it occurs (Adetayo, 2012). Mining not only, leads to the environmental degradation, changes in water tables, air pollution and other serious ecological impacts but also indigenous people living adjacent to the mines benefit least from the positive mining effects (Lobonne & Gilman, 1999). They have to suffer adverse health effects that result from environmental exposures to air, water, soil and noise pollution. And some of the adverse health effects in form of disease are chronic in nature (Stephens & Ahern, 2001). Worse still, mining activities account for serious negative consequences to the lives of local communities by negatively contributing to the livelihoods assets. It results in loss of livelihood of those who depend on land, forest water by taking away large tracks of agricultural land, by cutting down the forest, by polluting the water. Deforestation for example, is usually intense in the vicinity of mining settlements, which translates into a loss of biodiversity and consequently a change in the nutritional habits of the adjacent local population (Rhett, 2007; Kitula, 2006). Thus developing regions with large mineral deposits confront a challenge in striking the right balance between exploiting the mineral resources for economic prosperity and safeguarding environmental stability and social welfare. India too suffers from this paradox where major mineral-producing districts are characterized by thick forest (Bhusan, Hazra & Banerjee, 2008). The most important factor causing deforestation is diversion of forest area for non-forest purposes, that is, development project like irrigation, mining, industries, railways. A total of 897,698.40 hectares of forest area in India has been diverted for non-forestry purposes like mining, power projects, road and other industrial projects between 1980 and 2016. Among the non-forest activities, Mining stands to be the single biggest reason for the diversion of forest land (Aggarwal, 2016). This raises a pertinent researchable question whether extraction of minerals poses a threat to the livelihood and food security of those rural households that depend on the forest?
Odisha is one of the rich mineral bearing states of India. It has earned the distinction of one of the leading mining states of India, in terms of mineral resources. At the same time, the state is also a treasure house of forest resource with forest cover of 37 percent of its geographical area (Government of Odisha, 2017). Paradoxically, the mineral resources are found to be deposited under the large tract of these forest lands (Patra & Sethy, 2014). Mineral extraction therefore has disproportionately affected forest ecosystems and the forest dwelling population. Thus, the impacts of mines upon natural ecosystems, biodiversity and tribal livelihood have become a key concern and a cause of conflict in Odisha. The state government believes that the vast mineral reserves offer potential not only for overall economic growth, but also for creating local employment opportunities. Accordingly, plans are being developed to expand mining output through increase in the number of mines and their size of operation. This is bound to have a significant impact on the livelihood and food security of the households that depend on forest in mining region. Therefore, the present paper tries to answer the following research questions:
- 1.
What is the extent of deforestation due to diversion of forest land to mining activities in Odisha?
- 2.
How this has affected the household’s dependency on community forest for their livelihood and consumption and consequently on their food security in the mineral rich region of Odisha.