India’s Mica Mining: Implications for the 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v11i2.2621Keywords:
India, mica, mica mining, UN sustainable development goals, economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, wage provision, povertyAbstract
The present study sought to explore the implications of the mining of mica, a natural mineral commodity, in the Indian mining belt in regard to the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It analyzes the actions of the Indian mica mining industry through local case study reviews and explores the significance of these actions by analyzing them through the lens of the economic, social, and environmental sustainability theory of Andrew Basiago and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Analysis of specific areas such as compensation of labor for miners, child labor, mica mining contractors, gender constructs in mines, and deforestation/waste production, among others, revealed that the actions of the mica mining industry in India are indeed unsustainable in various social contexts, violating various SDGs and forsaking local human capital and habitats. This essay offers a connection between the actions of the present industry in India and the unsustainable developments of the surrounding communities and suggests a transition to synthetic mica and responsible mica mining initiatives in place of current systems.
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