In the forested plateau of Santhal Pargana in Jharkhand, a vast and violent transformation is underway. Beneath the hills and agricultural lands of this region lie some of the most valuable coal reserves in eastern India. Over the past two decades, these deposits have been opened to extraction through the development of the three adjacent blocks in the Pachwara coal belt situated in the Rajmahal Coalfield spanning the Pakur-Dumka region. The blocks are called Pachwara North, Pachwara Central, and Pachwara South. But this is a story of public wealth diverted for private profit, and of the suffering and resilience of the Adivasi communities fighting for their right to exist.

On paper, these mines were allotted by the Government of India to state-owned power utilities, intended to supply coal to thermal power plants across West Bengal, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh. In reality, the coal is extracted by a cabal of private infrastructure giants operating as Mine Developers and Operators, or MDOs - a contractual model where private firms undertake all mining operations on behalf of public sector owners. The result is a rapacious mining regime where public coal reserves fuel private fortunes, while the staggering social and environmental costs are paid almost exclusively by the Santhal and Pahariya tribes who call this land home.

A team of Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Aadivasi Adhikar Manch has been seeking to get answers for the questions that emerge from Pachwara as they are the very grounds on which resistance must be shaped. What is the rehabilitation policy supposedly applicable here? Is it being implemented? Have concrete benefits like jobs, land, and compensation actually reached the displaced? And how can the institutions meant to protect the environment and tribal rights be forced to act?

The Geology and the Great Plunder

The Pachwara coal blocks lie within the Rajmahal geological basin, a major coal-bearing formation, and the numbers are staggering. Between themselves Pachwara North (400 million), Pachwara Central (382 million)  and Pachwara South (264-279 million) form a massive extraction zone of over a billion tonnes of geological coal reserves designed to feed power plants across northern and eastern India for decades.

The legal journey of these coal blocks mirrors the chaotic deregulation of India's mining sector. Initially allocated to state utilities in the early 2000s, the allotments were thrown into disarray by the landmark 2014 Supreme Court judgement that cancelled over 200 coal blocks. In the subsequent reallocation under the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act 2015, the blocks were awarded once again to the same state utilities: Pachwara North to WBPDCL (West Bengal), Pachwara Central to PSPCL (Punjab), and Pachwara South to NUPPL, a joint venture for Uttar Pradesh and NLC India Limited.

While the owners on paper remained public, the operational model told a different story. None of these utilities mine the coal themselves. Instead, they have handed the keys to private players through Coal Mining Agreements. Under this arrangement, all pre-commencement activities including land acquisition, rehabilitation, procurement of permits are done by the allottees while MDOs, or Mine Developers and Operators, undertake construction, and development of mining infrastructure, as well as the excavation and transport of coal throughout the life of the mine, all for a mining charge based on Rs/tonne of coal produced. In essence, the MDO model allows private firms to control every aspect except the regulatory aspect of the mining operations.

Pachwara North is operated by NCC-BGR, a Hyderabad-based consortium awarded the project in 2016, valued at an estimated Rs 35,000 crore over 30 years. The rehabilitation and resettlement colonies for this block are being constructed by private contractors. Pachwara Central is operated by DBL Pachhwara Coal Mines Private Limited, a special purpose vehicle of Dilip Buildcon Limited (Bhopal) and VPR Mining Infrastructure (Hyderabad). After years of litigation following the cancellation of an earlier contract with Panem Coal (a joint venture between PSPCL and EMTA), mining finally restarted here in earnest in late 2022. Pachwara South is operated by MIPL-GCL Infracontract Private Limited, an Ahmedabad-based entity.

This is the new face of Indian coal: public ownership, private extraction through the MDO model, and public risk borne by local communities. The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) recently boasted that since the revival of Pachwara Central in December 2022, the mine has supplied 115 lakh tonnes of coal, generating an estimated savings of Rs 950 crore compared to coal procured from Coal India Limited. Yet, for the displaced families of Panem's earlier operations, the story is one of unpaid wages and broken promises.

The Human Quarry: Villages in the Crosshairs

The expansion of mining across the Pachwara belt has required large-scale land acquisition across Pakur and Dumka districts, much of the land belonging to Adivasis. Thousands of acres have already been acquired, leading to the loss of agricultural land, forest resources, and the displacement of several villages.

Before land acquisition begins formally, mining projects typically initiate surveys in affected villages. In the Pachwara belt, villagers reported that teams connected to the mining companies and their contractors mapped landholdings, settlements, and infrastructure across the mining zone. These surveys form the basis for identifying land required for open-cast mines, overburden dumping areas, approach roads, and coal transport corridors. However, residents stated that they were not clearly informed about the purpose of these exercises, and that the surveys often preceded any formal consultations with the Gram Sabha, raising serious questions about transparency and compliance with legal safeguards governing land acquisition in tribal areas.

Legal Safeguards and the Question of Gram Sabha Consent

The manner in which surveys and land identification have proceeded raises important legal questions in the context of the special protections that apply to Adivasi regions. Land in Santhal Pargana is governed by protective tenancy laws, most notably the Santhal Parganas Tenancy Act, 1949, which restricts the transfer of tribal land to non-tribals. In addition, the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) (PESA) Act, 1996 requires that the Gram Sabha be consulted before land acquisition or development projects are undertaken in Scheduled Areas. Further, the Forest Rights Act, 2006 mandates that forest-dwelling communities must have their individual and community forest rights recognised before any diversion of forest land for industrial purposes.

Yet villagers across several settlements affected by the Pachwara mines reported that no meaningful Gram Sabha consultations were conducted prior to the surveys and land acquisition processes.

The R&R Policy and Its Broken Promises

A central question for securing any relief in the Pachwara belt must be: what is the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) policy applicable here, and is it being implemented? The legal framework governing R&R in coal mining projects has evolved over time. During the Panem era, displacement was supposed to be governed by the Supreme Court's orders and the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act 1957, with R&R packages determined on a project-by-project basis. Following the 2013 Land Acquisition Act, a more comprehensive framework came into effect, mandating not just compensation for land but also rehabilitation entitlements including housing, employment, and community infrastructure.

Yet the ground reality tells a different story. In the Pachwara Central block, workers who were employed with Panem Coal have been left in the lurch. Following the suspension of mining in March 2015, hundreds of workers remained unpaid for nine months. When they approached the Dumka deputy labour commissioner, he expressed helplessness, stating the matter pertained to the central labour department. The Prime Minister's Office directed them to the regional labour commissioner in Patna, where the trail went cold. A team from PSPCL visited Amrapara after the block was reallocated to them and "assured the employees and the displaced residents of the resumption of the benefits after entering into an agreement with the new company for coal excavation". That agreement, however, remains unimplemented from the perspective of the displaced.

The Math of Dispossession: Compensation and Its Discontents

Land acquisition for the Pachwara coal mines has taken place through a combination of statutory procedures and project-specific rehabilitation policies. In most coal projects, land is acquired under the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act 1957 or through the compensation framework of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013. Compensation is typically calculated based on the officially notified market value of land, multiplied by a rural factor, and supplemented with solatium and rehabilitation benefits.

Field reports indicate that actual payments vary considerably depending on land classification and the presence of formal titles. Households with legally recognised pattas (land records) are generally eligible for compensation, while forest dwellers and those whose land rights are not formally recorded often face uncertainty. This is a distinction with particularly serious consequences in Santhal Pargana, where many communities depend on customary land use systems not reflected in formal records.

The vulnerability is sharply divided along tribal lines. Santhal households often possess larger landholdings with formal pattas. The Pahariya community, however, is far more precarious. Lacking formal ownership of the forest lands they depend on, and often denied titles under the Forest Rights Act 2006, they are rendered virtually invisible to the compensation machinery.

Employment: The Central Unfulfilled Demand

The legal framework mandates that one member of each displaced family be provided employment in the project, subject to suitability and availability of vacancies. This provision has been systematically violated across the Pachwara belt.

During the Panem era, workers were engaged through contractors, leaving them without job security or protection when mining ceased. Even the Supreme Court's intervention, which assured adequate R&R packages, could not prevent workers from going nine months without salary. When the new MDO contractors took over, there was no automatic absorption of the displaced or previously employed workers.

PSPCL's recent announcement celebrates that the mine has "supplied 115 lakh tonnes of coal" and achieved "peak rated capacity". Nowhere in this accounting of savings and efficiency is there any mention of how many local tribal youth have been employed, how many project affected families (PAF) have received jobs, or what the terms of employment are for those working in the mines. The MDO model profits private contractors while insulating public sector utilities from responsibility for rehabilitation.

The Broken Promise of Rehabilitation and Reclamation

The fate of those already displaced is a warning to those still in the mines' path. A visit to New Kathaldih, a resettlement colony for families ousted from the old village, revealed the hollow promise of rehabilitation. Villagers reported that the houses constructed for them are poorly built and already crumbling. Only a handful have seen any maintenance by the company.

A deep sense of mistrust pervades the colony. Some residents have refused to accept permanent titles for their new plots, clinging to the faint hope that they might one day return to their original land after mining ceases. That hope, however, is being systematically buried - literally. The Ministry of Coal has established a framework for mine closure, requiring that "protective, reclamation, and rehabilitation efforts" be completed in accordance with approved mining plans. In Pachwara, however, villagers report that overburden dumps are expanding, not shrinking. Land that was supposed to be reclaimed for agriculture or habitation is instead being used for perpetual dumping.

Pollution and the Regulatory Void

The environmental consequences of open-cast mining are severe and well-documented. Massive overburden layers are removed through continuous blasting, drilling, and excavation, releasing large quantities of dust and particulate matter into the air. Villages located close to the mining zone report that dust settles on agricultural land, trees, and water sources, affecting crop productivity and soil quality over time. Farmers in several settlements reported declining agricultural yields due to the continuous deposition of coal dust and mining debris on their fields. Exposure to airborne particulate matter has also contributed to respiratory problems, eye irritation, and skin diseases among local residents.

Beyond the mining pits themselves, a major source of pollution is the transportation of coal from the mines to railway loading points. Residents along this corridor report that uncovered coal trucks release fine dust into the air as they move through the region. Layers of coal dust settle daily on houses, crops, and water sources. Farmers complain that this pollution damages agricultural produce and affects livestock health. The constant movement of heavy dumpers has also severely deteriorated local roads, originally built for light rural traffic.

Yet, there is little evidence of NGT or SPCB intervention. Complaints filed by villagers seem to disappear into administrative voids. The regulatory institutions meant to protect communities have either been captured or rendered irrelevant.

Framing Demands for relief

For the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and other organisations seeking to get relief in the Pachwara belt, the documentation above points toward a clear set of demands. First and foremost, the full implementation of the R&R policy, including retrospective application to those displaced during the Panem era. Second, employment as per law for the affected, not through precarious contractual arrangements but as permanent workers with rights and protections. Third, the regularisation of land titles for Pahariya and other forest-dependent communities under the Forest Rights Act. Fourth, a comprehensive plan for mine reclamation that restores land for agriculture and habitation. Fifth, effective pollution control enforced through the NGT and SPCB, with measurable standards and community monitoring. Sixth, Gram Sabha consent for all further land acquisition and mining expansion, in compliance with PESA and the Santhal Parganas Tenancy Act.

Conclusion:

The battle for Pachwara is a battle for the future of Santhal Pargana itself. For the tribal communities of Santhal Pargana, the struggle around Pachwara is not simply about a mineral. It is about land, livelihood, dignity, and the very right to exist. As the excavators dig deeper and the coal-laden trucks rumble on, the question remains: will their voice be heard before their land is gone forever?