The cost of toxic coal mining in Thar

Lying somewhere at the bottom of the stack of thousands of cases pending before the Supreme Court is an appeal filed by the residents of the villages of the Thar desert whose lives and livelihoods have been threatened by disposal on their lands of highly toxic water being pumped out during coal mining. The water is being disposed of at two effluent water disposal sites in Gorano and Dukar Cho villages, located some 30km away from the mines and outside the area allotted to the mining company for carrying out its activities. The petition is seeking environmental justice through re-examination and reversal of a decision of the Sindh High Court that accepts the dubious right of the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) to dispose of the effluent water and forcible acquisition of the community lands for this purpose. The case is simple. The country’s top court has to ascertain if the mining company, a joint venture of the Sindh government with Engro Energy Ltd backed by other investors, had carried out the mandatory Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) for the disposal of toxic water in Gorano and Dukar Cho villages.