IMPACT OF BARAPUKURIA COAL MINE OF DINAJPUR DISTRICT ON THE NEARBY ECOSYSTEM AND LIVELIHOOD OF RURAL COMMUNITIES

Abstract

A scientific research was carried out to evaluate the impact of Barapukuria coal field of Dinajpur district on the nearby ecosystem and livelihood of rural communities. Data were collected from 160 randomly selected respondents who were living nearby the Barapukuria coal mine. Twenty households from each village namely Bagra, Ramavanda, Rampura, Modopara, Baigran, Salgroria, Kashadinaga and Damudurpur were collected. A well-structured interview schedule was used to collect information during December 2017 to January 2018. Appropriate scales were developed in order to measure both the independable and dependable variables of this study. The independable variables were respondents‟ age, level of education, family size, farm size, annual income, knowledge on coal mine and their organizational participation. Again, the dependable variables were respondent‟s perception about the impact of coalmine on nearby ecosystems, livelihood, agricultural production and respondent‟s health. The findings of the study revealed that coalmining contributed to positive implication on income generation, creation of job opportunity and financial capital of local people. Due to the diversified income sources and activities the livelihood of the local people improved tremendously. However, the result of the study also showed that the influents of coalmine created numerous environmental, agricultural and health issues. As a result, the local environment has been degraded immensely. The Agro-ecosystems are being destroyed and agricultural production showed decreasing trends. The local people who lived nearby the coal field felt different health problems, such as skin diseases, eye allergy and asthma. The local people of coalmine in Barapukuria area have no strong participation with different organizations formally or informally. Therefore, the local people need more training and capacity building to cope the adverse of the locality.