Jharkhand has asked the Centre to rein in Public Sector Units (PSUs) from carrying out "reckless" mining activities causing environmental degradation in the state and demanded setting up of a team to monitor their functioning.
"Performance of PSUs like Central Coalfields and Bharat Coking Coal is far from satisfactory. The status of reclamation of their mined area is extremely dismal," a senior official from Jharkhand told reporters.
"We have brought the issue to the notice of Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh who has promised to look into the matter," she added.
Further elaborating on the issue, the official claimed that reclamation is not taken up on the ground that mining operations are not complete. "They keep on opening virgin areas without exhausting the ore in opened up areas. Abandoned mines, and not reclaimed ones, are the major source of illegal mining."
The official pointed out that since proper disposal of slurry was not being done, the water was getting polluted in the region.
Seeking Centre's intervention in the matter, she sought setting up of a joint task force comprising officials from Coal and Environment Ministries at the central level to assess the damage done and to work out technical solutions.
The official also took exception to the current process of coal block allotment by Coal Ministry terming it as "environmentally detrimental as it was done in isolation and without consulting Environment Ministry."
"Non-consultation with state forest department and Environment Ministry has led to environmentally detrimental allotment of coal blocks," she said while pointing out the latest such instance of North Karanpura coalfield where Coal Ministry has alloted 40 coal blocks involving forest land.
"These allotted coal blocks encircle hundreds of square kilometer of forest and its wildlife and if mining starts in these blocks it will seriously jeopardise flora and fauna and no wildlife conservation plan can be worked out.
"Therefore there is a need for Coal Ministry to internalise the mandatory consultation with the state forest department while alloting coal blocks to agencies or enterprises."
The official also suggested special CAG audit on washeries of Coal India.
She also mentioned recent caving in of a national highway due to fire in an underground coal mining unit.
