EVALUATING THE COST OF NEGATIVE EXTERNALITY IN COAL MINING REGION OF JHARKHAND: A CASE STUDY OF HAZARIBAGH AND DHANBAD COAL BELTS

The present article is based on the assessment of economic valuation of coal mining in the rural areas of Dhanbad and Hazaribagh District of Jharkhand. The study is based on the valuation of loss of health in the area of study due to mining. The data have been collected from total of 100 households from four mining villages and 50 households from two non-mining (control) villages. The approach that has been used is Cost of illness (COI) approach to analyse the health impact of mining. On the basis of various evidences collected from various documents and reports, various interviews carried out with coal mining officials, doctors interviews based in the hospitals of coal mining areas, field observations of the area of study and interviews held with government department officials. It was found that villages falling into various mining areas were witnessing various health hazards as compared to the villages found in non-mining areas of Dhanbad and Hazaribagh District of Jharkhand. This article is based on various policy framework which are focussing on dealing with the problem of health occurring in the mining areas being considered as negative externality.