MULTI-OBJECTIVE DECISION MAKING FOR PLANNED RELOCATION OF PEOPLE WHILE DEVELOPING SURFACE MINES IN DENSELY POPULATED AREAS Goal programming is combined with the analytic hierarchy process to determine optimal decisions for planned relocation of people in surface

Coal is the most highly used source of energy for generating power in the world. Although, it has adverse environmental impacts (Weart, 2003), it is so widely used mainly because it is relatively cheap, abundantly available and readily fits with traditional power generation technologies. It is extracted from mines using both underground and surface mining techniques – either of them having advantages and disadvantages (Thomas, 2002). Surface mining methods (i.e., open pit, strip or mountain top) are implemented in areas that are remote from human habitations and civic amenities (e.g., mountainous regions of British Columbia, Canada). In surface mining a larger proportion of deposits can be commercially extracted compared to underground mining. But, surface mining severely alters the landscape, which damages environmental value in the surrounding land. Therefore, special remedial procedures have to follow. Because of high energy price, countries are looking for new source of hydrocarbon through geological explorations. Such countries may be densely populated and coal deposits may be discovered in shallow depths under valuable farm lands and existing homesteads. In such a scenario, open-pit mining may be the optimal choice, but it would also require relocating a sizable section of population in a planned manner. As we emphasize social responsibility, such a relocation decision can be complex and have to be planned fulfilling multiple conflicting objectives. In the past, environmental considerations were ignored in various parts of the world and many people, mostly poor and often aboriginal, were displaced against their choice (Howard, 1994). Indegenous Australians have also been offered mining payments as specific compensation for the negative impacts of mining (O’Faircheallaigh, 2004). Tribals who were displaced from opencast coal mines at Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, India are now demanding compensation (The Hindu, 2003).