NAINITAL: Mining season in Kumaon, which after a fortnight's delay, kicked off on October 15, has seen a surprisingly sluggish response. The reason is not a lack of enough material to mine, but rather, the lack of manpower since most of the labourers employed in the mining industry are workers from Bihar and eastern UP.

Due to the ongoing elections in Bihar, most of these labourers have stayed put in their villages, the effect of which is being felt in distant Kumaon. Deepak Rawat, district magistrate of Nainital, admitted that manpower shortage was affecting mining operations in the area. “The procedures to start mining in the Gaula river bed have been almost completed by the administration and other stakeholders, but the dearth of manpower is proving to be a big hindrance,” he told TOI.

Mining activity involves picking up of river bed material (RBM) from the beds without digging or quarrying and within permissible limits. According to a mining contractor, on an average, they are able to load upto 50 vehicles with carrying capacity of about 14 tonnes each during the season, which lasts till May each year. But this year, he says, only 14-15 vehicles are loaded each day.

Also, while permits have been issued for the Gaula, Nandhaur and Kosi rivers, mining operations have started only at Gaula – that too, after a fortnight’s delay. “The Bihar elections will get over by November 5 but then there is Diwali. We expect workers from Bihar and east UP to arrive here only after November 12. Till then, mining operations will be sluggish,” said JP Bhatt, divisional forest development officer.

Meanwhile, in order to improve working conditions for labourers, forest department officials say they are in talks with many insurance companies to get the workers insured for a sum of Rs 1 lakh in case of accident or death. Also in the pipeline is a proposal to issue safety kits for them, including providing them safety gloves, helmets, uniforms and other utilities.

