The silent (and gendered) violence: Understanding water access in mining areas through the rights lens

Drawing on a feminist political ecology perspective, this chapter argues that a rights-based approach to the study of mining impacts on communities must also integrate gender considerations when thinking about changes in water quality and quantity caused by large mineral extractive operations. This argument is illustrated by coal mining-induced water conflicts in eastern India, in the state of Jharkhand particularly in the North Karanpura valley where mining has rapidly advanced in the last two decades. The chapter shows that decreased water availability due to large-scale mining has impacted gender roles within the family and community. The story of jharna, a large spring, that of Agaria Tola, which is a hamlet near Pakoddih of Burugutu, told by Shanti Murmu, supports the arguments made by this chapter. It also highlights the uneven power relations between commercial actors and indigenous people, between dominating and marginalized ethnic groups, and between more powerful people and people who dispossess of their rights to land and water.