India, Oct. 21 -- In the light rain, feet sink into the mud on the unpaved footpath of Bansa village. Ahead, the wet slope of the Kaimur hills is half hidden in mist.

"This slope once kept the village's hearths burning. About 15 years ago, mining happened here and money came into our homes. When the quarries shut, the work went too, and migration became our fate," said Bandhu Sah. The hills will be broken again, and for him the news has come not as fear but as hope.

At the village square, Bighan Chaudhary watches the rain. "If work was available here, why would anyone leave?" he asked.

In 2007, the Bihar government banned stone mining in parts of this region. In the same hills, the auction of mining blocks has now begun again. In Gaygh...