India must colour coal cash green for mining communities to survive

Every year in October, cash registers ring in shops dotting east India's mining hubs during the Hindu festival season of Dussehra, when the country's biggest coal company, Coal India Ltd, hands its workers a bonus. Researchers and unions are calling for this coal cash - which fuels spending in homes and local economies - and the revenue local governments earn from coal mining firms to be mapped as a first step towards planning for a post-coal economy.