Designing tools to track health and well‐being in mining regions of India

The objective of this article is to illustrate the use of a framework to design a set of tools to assess progress towards improved well‐being in a mining region. The framework uses an ecosystem approach to assess human well‐being and is sensitive to the needs, concerns, and interests of at least the major stakeholders: government, company and community. The framework seeks to be useful to stakeholders and to be of policy relevance. The article presents the proposed framework with illustrations from a case study in Goa, India. Mining in Goa has had both positive and negative impacts on the well‐being of local people. These impacts vary depending on the age of mining. In areas where mining is well established and active, the economic impacts are more positive. The social and environmental impacts are more negative in the regions where mining is new or is closing down. These characteristics generate their own set of issues of concern to stakeholders. Based on these issues, three types of tools to assess current well‐being and progress towards improved well‐being are suggested: (i) Indicators based on identified issues using the Pressure‐State‐Response (PSR) framework; (ii) A quality of life instrument, which can be developed either as an aggregate measure of well‐being or in a more limited way to capture the satisfaction of the community with their living conditions; (iii) A regional income accounting framework to assess whether the mining region is able to continue functioning into the indefinite future without being forced into a decline through the degradation of its key natural, social, and human assets and resources. The article suggests that if these tools are used regularly, an information system will emerge that will, over time, provide markers of what mining is doing to the region and to the local communities.