Health Issues of Rat Hole Coal Mine Workers of Meghalaya - A Logit Regression Analysis

Abstract

Most of the coal mines in Meghalaya are controlled by private individuals and companies. The Garo Hills district has the highest coal reserve of 390 million tonnes. Locally the mining of coal is done by making small pit holes commonly known as Rat Hole mines. These coal mines are illegal and the owners of the mine exploit the poor workers as they have no other means of livelihood to support them. This study intends to highlight the various health problems faced by the coal mine workers who are mostly migrants. The study was carried out in South Garo Hills which is one of the 11 districts of Meghalaya, by interacting with 110 workers of different private coal mines. A logit regression model is used to find the significance of various independent variables which are broadly classified as individual habits, demographic factors, work environment, and the fuel used for cooking.  Certain  factors come under these broad categories like working hours, age, gender, leisure time. The dependent variables include certain health problems like skin problems, hearing problems, Respiratory problems. The result of the logit regression reveals that for most of the health issues suffered by the coal mine workers, the individual habits and work environment are more significant than the other independent variables.