(a) Discuss the reserves, distribution and production of all varieties of coal in India. 20 (b) Describe the salient features of…

(a) Coal in India: reserves, distribution and production of all varieties

India's coal falls into four main varieties by carbon content: anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous and lignite, with peat as the lowest form.

Varieties: anthracite (over 80 per cent carbon) is very small in quantity, found in Jammu and Kashmir. Bituminous coal (60–80 per cent), including coking coal, is the main type, found in the Gondwana fields; Jharia, Raniganj and Bokaro supply coking coal for steel. Sub-bituminous and non-coking coal are widely mined for power, in Korba, Singrauli, Talcher and Wardha. Lignite (about 40 per cent carbon, brown and moist) occurs in Neyveli (Tamil Nadu), Barmer (Rajasthan) and Kutch (Gujarat). Peat is found in the Nilgiris and Kashmir.

Reserves: coal resources are about 350 billion tonnes (Coal Controller, 2021) and lignite about 47 billion tonnes. About 98 per cent of coal is Gondwana coal, in the Damodar, Son, Mahanadi, Godavari and Wardha valleys; Tertiary coal (about 2 per cent) is found in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

Distribution by State: Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra hold most reserves.

Production: India is the second-largest producer after China, passing one billion tonnes in 2023–24, mostly by Coal India Limited, with Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh leading. Lignite output is small and Neyveli leads. Coking coal is in short supply and is imported, as are some high-grade coals.

(b) Salient features of the east-flowing rivers of India

The east-flowing rivers include the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Pennar, Brahmani and Subarnarekha, and most are peninsular rivers draining to the Bay of Bengal.

Features:

• They rise in the Western Ghats or the plateau and flow east across the Deccan on a gentle slope, so their courses are long and broad.
• Their basins are large, and the Godavari, the longest, is called the Dakshin Ganga.
• They are rain-fed and seasonal in flow, depending on the south-west monsoon, with the Kaveri also getting north-east monsoon rain.
• They are in the mature stage with wide valleys, and have no rift valleys, so they do not form estuaries.
• They form large fertile deltas: the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri deltas support intensive rice cultivation.
• Their lower courses are flood-prone and exposed to cyclones.
• They are heavily dammed (Hirakud, Nagarjuna Sagar, Mettur, Krishnarajasagara) for irrigation and power, and are the subject of inter-State disputes, such as over the Kaveri and Krishna.

(c) Problems of inter-State border disputes in India

Inter-State border disputes arise from colonial-era boundaries, the linguistic reorganisation of States in 1956, ethnic homelands and competition for land and resources.

Examples: Belagavi between Maharashtra and Karnataka; Assam's boundary with Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, which had violent clashes in 2020 and 2021; Haryana and Punjab over Chandigarh; Kerala and Karnataka over areas of Kasaragod; and Odisha and Andhra Pradesh over Kotia.

Problems: loss of life and violence; stalled development and services in disputed villages; strain on federal relations and on river or forest management; and political use of the issue.

Mechanisms: Parliament can alter boundaries under Article 3; States can approach the Supreme Court under Article 131; the Inter-State Council (Article 263) and Zonal Councils offer talks. The Mahajan Commission (1967) looked at Belagavi. Measures needed: joint survey with satellite mapping, negotiated settlement as in the partial Assam–Meghalaya settlement of 2022, involvement of local people, and a standing boundary mechanism.