NEW YORK - Government’s indifference and poor regulation have fuelled lawlessness in India’s troubled mining industry and threaten serious harm to mining-affected communities, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Thursday.The report: Out of control - mining, regulatory failure and human rights in India focuses on iron mining in Goa and Karnataka to illustrate a broader pattern of failed regulation, alleged corruption and harm to local communities.Human Rights Watch, which is based in New York, documented allegations that irresponsible mining operations have damaged the health, water, environment, and livelihoods of these communities.“Mining operations often cause immense destruction when government doesn’t exercise proper oversight,” Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “India has laws on the books to protect mining-affected communities from harm, but their enforcement has essentially collapsed.”India’s government has systemically failed to ensure that the country’s 2,600 authorized mining operations adhere to key human rights and environmental protections under Indian law, Human Rights Watch found.The Human Rights Watch said its report is based in part on interviews with more than 80 people in Goa and Karnataka states, as well as in New Delhi, including residents in affected communities, activists, and mining company and government officials.“Mining scandals may grab headlines, but the root causes of India’s mining problems are more basic,” Ganguly said. “The government has encouraged lawlessness by failing to enforce the law or even monitor whether mine operators are complying with it.”But government reforms have not gone nearly far enough. Human Rights Watch urged the government to adopt a number of pragmatic policy recommendations to narrow some of the most important regulatory gaps.“Mining is an important part of India’s economy, but that does not mean the industry should be allowed to write its own rules,” Ganguly said. “The government can and should empower regulators to do their jobs more effectively than they can today.”