Google Earth apparently gives us a fabulous view of how a mountain-top is carved out in open cast coal mining. The post goes on to talk about how entire mountains are shredded, and hopes that once people see this, they will move to stop open cast mining for coal.

The example isnt much different from open cast mining for other minerals – for example Iron. Iron is mined from Kudremukh – in Kannada it means Horse-faced – (since stopped by an order of the Supreme Court) in the very same fashion. One of the officials in the know told me about how at least 2 peaks were mined to the ground there, in the Western Ghats. That the ore from Kudremukh is top notch in quality is (or was) a driving force in the mining.

Environmental laws and regulations exist, and are enforced – not all the time though. But, with the way global warming is coming head-on, the ravaging of the earth has to be stopped – and the rapid increase in consumption levels* need to be reversed.

This post might seem rather arbitrary and wishy-washy. There’s a follow up post awaiting, and its a book review too. It should buttress this post’s opinions with facts, and resources.

*China is the biggest consumer of most such natural resources now – sometimes consuming upto 40% of the world’s output in key metals and minerals.