Livelihood vulnerability index assessment of the informal coal mining workers using IPCC frameworks

Coal mining has contributed immensely to the regional and global economy, but the existence and perpetuation of informal mining have led to enormous impacts on environment and human health. The footprint of informal coal mine workers (ICMWs) is increasing, and they typically engage in unauthorized extraction, transportation, and sale of coal from mines. Given this, we examined the vulnerability of 336 ICMWs residing in mining villages (MVs) of the Jharia Coalfield Region (JCF) in eastern India on the scale of two indicators: livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) and livelihood effect index (LEI). Based on field data on ten major LVI components, viz: socio-demographic profile, livelihood strategies, social networks, knowledge and skills, finance, health, food, water, housing, land tenure, natural disaster, climate variability, and environmental quality were generated. Our study also analyzed five sustainable capitals (human, natural, social, financial, and physical) under LEI to understand the most vulnerable assets of the ICMWs. Moreover, results of the ICMWs were compared with the LVI and LEI of the 345 non-coal mining workers (NCMWs) residing in non-mining villages (NMVs) located 10 km away from the radius of the JCF. Our study revealed that the IPCC-weighted LVI scores of the ICMWs and NCMWs are 0.32 and −0.01, respectively. Furthermore, ICMWs showed higher LEI scores than the NCMWs. Our study recommends amendments in the mines and mineral development policies, including rehabilitation and resettlement, and corporate social responsibility to provide livelihood options for the ICMWs while prioritizing skill profiling, employment generation, water conservation, and health services. • ICMWs face significantly higher livelihood vulnerability than NCMWs. • Financial and natural capital suffer the most resulting in holistic instability. • Lack of clean water and health issues are major challenges for ICMWs.