Mineral resources are fundamental to the country’s economy and these are exploited by mining. Why is mining considered an environmental hazard? Explain the remedial measures required to reduce the environmental hazard due to mining.
Approach · directive: “why / explain”
What it asks · Explain the damage mining does to land, water, air, biodiversity and people, and propose remedies across the life of a mine.
It asks 2 things — answer each
- Explain why mining is considered an environmental hazard — land, water, air, biodiversity and people
- Explain the remedial measures required across the life of a mine to reduce the hazard
Open with · Minerals underpin energy, infrastructure and manufacturing, but mining strips land cover, rock and water from ecosystems and leaves a footprint that outlives the mine; managing that footprint, not avoiding mining, is the policy task.
Cover
- Land and forests: deforestation, topsoil loss, overburden dumps, subsidence, and fragmented wildlife corridors in central India’s coal and iron-ore belts.
- Water: acid mine drainage, heavy-metal leaching, falling water tables and silted rivers.
- Air and health: dust and particulate pollution, underground coal fires (Jharia), silicosis and pneumoconiosis among workers.
- Social: displacement of tribal communities and loss of forest-based livelihoods, often with poor rehabilitation.
- Illegal and unscientific mining: riverbed sand mining; abandoned mines left unreclaimed.
- Regulatory remedies: EIA with genuine public hearings, forest clearance, mine closure plans backed by financial guarantees, star rating of mines, satellite monitoring.
- Technical and social remedies: backfilling, reclamation and afforestation, dust suppression, treatment of mine water; District Mineral Foundation funds for affected people.
Close with · Mining becomes compatible with sustainability when every lease is rated, reclaimed and audited, and when DMF money reaches those who bear the costs, turning an extractive industry into a development partner for India's mineral-rich but poorest districts.
Add value (verified)
- District Mineral Foundations had collected over ₹1.02 lakh crore by November 2024 for mining-affected areas under PMKKKY.PIB, Ministry of Mines — District Mineral Foundation (4 February 2025) ↗“Till November 2024, cumulative amount of Rs 1,02,083.03 Cr. has been collected in DMFs across country, out of which Rs 87,357.28 Cr. has been sanctioned for 3.60 lakh projects.”
- Star Rating of mines (2016): instituted by the Ministry of Mines through IBM; leases rated one to five stars for implementing the Sustainable Development Framework.PIB, Ministry of Mines — Star Rating of Mines (15 December 2016) ↗“A ‘Star Rating’ system has been instituted by the Ministry of Mines through Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), in which star rating will be awarded to the mining leases for their efforts and initiatives taken for implementation of the Sustainable Development Framework (SDF)”
- Revised PMKKKY guidelines (January 2024): at least 70% of DMF funds in directly affected areas and high-priority sectors; mandatory CAG audit of DMF accounts.PIB, Ministry of Mines — District Mineral Foundation (4 February 2025) ↗“To ensure effective implementation of the PMKKKY scheme, the Central Government has issued revised PMKKKY guidelines in January, 2024. Some of the key features of these guidelines includes utilisation of at least 70% of DMF funds in the directly affected area and high priority sectors, mandatory audit of DMF accounts by C&AG”
- PMKKKY priority sectors for DMF spending: drinking water, environment preservation and pollution control, health, education, women and children, skills and livelihoods, sanitation, housing, agriculture.PIB, Ministry of Mines — District Mineral Foundation (4 February 2025) ↗“PMKKKY mandates DMFs to spend funds on priority sectors viz. Drinking Water, Environment Preservation and Pollution Control measures, Health Care, Education, Welfare of Women and Children, Welfare of aged and differently-abled, Skill Development and Livelihood generation, Sanitation, Housing, Agriculture”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2025, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 365words · Minimalist IAS
Minerals underpin energy, infrastructure and manufacturing, but mining strips land cover, rock and water from ecosystems and leaves a footprint that outlives the mine. Managing that footprint, not avoiding mining, is the policy task.
Why mining is considered an environmental hazard
- Land and forests: deforestation, topsoil loss, overburden dumps, subsidence and fragmented wildlife corridors in central India's coal and iron-ore belts.
- Water: acid mine drainage and heavy-metal leaching poison streams; dewatering lowers water tables; silt chokes rivers.
- Air and health: dust and particulates; underground coal fires as at Jharia; silicosis and pneumoconiosis among workers.
- Biodiversity: habitat loss in forested landscapes; blasting and noise push wildlife out.
- People: displacement of tribal communities and loss of forest-based livelihoods, often with poor rehabilitation.
- Illegal and unscientific mining: riverbed sand mining erodes banks and aquifers; abandoned mines are left unreclaimed.
Remedial measures required to reduce the hazard
- Before: EIA, clearances, no-go zones
- During: dust and water control, backfilling
- After: funded closure, reclamation
- Throughout: DMF benefit-sharing, CAG audit
- Before mining: rigorous EIA with genuine public hearings, forest and wildlife clearances, cumulative impact assessment for mining clusters, and no-go zones in dense forests.
- During mining: dust suppression, treatment and reuse of mine water, progressive backfilling, blasting controls and worker health surveillance.
- Rate and watch: the Star Rating of mines, instituted by the Ministry of Mines through the Indian Bureau of Mines (2016), grades leases one to five stars on the Sustainable Development Framework; satellite monitoring tracks leases.
- After mining: closure plans backed by financial guarantees, reclamation and afforestation of dumps, and pits turned into water bodies or eco-parks.
- People first: District Mineral Foundations had collected ₹1,02,083 crore by November 2024 for drinking water, pollution control, health and livelihoods; the revised PMKKKY guidelines (January 2024) require at least 70% of funds in directly affected areas and a mandatory CAG audit; consent and rehabilitation under the Forest Rights Act and PESA.
- Demand side: recycling and a circular economy for metals cut the need for fresh extraction.
Mining becomes compatible with sustainability when every lease is rated, reclaimed and audited, and when DMF money reaches those who bear the costs, turning an extractive industry into a development partner for India's mineral-rich but poorest districts.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 3 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
