In a last ditch attempt at saving its no-go policy that bars coal mining on ecological grounds, the environment ministry is now insisting on keeping highly dense coal-bearing forest areas absolutely free from mining activities.
The ministry’s proposal to save these “inviolate” areas, if approved, would still allow it to save a sizeable chunk of forest cover. Extremely dense forest areas cover 10 per cent of India’s coal bearing area of 17,300 square kilometres as against an overall 17.5 per cent area being impacted by no-go.
Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan had proposed keeping certain areas out of bounds for mining activities during Tuesday’s meeting of a 12-member Group of Ministers (GoM).
| NO-GO FACTS | |
| Total coal bearing area in India (sq km) | 17,300 |
| Total geological coal reserves (BT) | 277 |
| Coal bearing area out of total forest area (%) | 0.16 |
| Power need met by coal (%) | 70 |
| Total no of coal blocks in India | 602 |
| No of blocks identified in no-go | 203 |
| Spread over in area (sq km) | 3,039 |
| Annual production potential (mt) | 660 |
| Equivalent power generation capacity (Mw) | 130,000 |
Natarajan is understood to have said during the meeting that no mining should be allowed in thick forests.
Notably, in another GoM meeting last month, Natarajan had said No-Go policy has no legal basis and should not be considered for future project approvals.
Most of the members present at the GoM endorsed Natarajan’s proposal. “The environment ministry is yet to decide on the procedure it will follow to identify the inviolate areas. The proposal is still at preliminary stages,” said a senior official who did not wish to be quoted.
The environment ministry has reportedly agreed to consider project proposals impacted by no-go policy on a case-to-case basis in Tuesday’s meeting.
Under pressure from senior colleagues in the GoM, erstwhile environment minister Jairam Ramesh had cleared four coal blocks — Pars (East), Kante Basan, Parsa and Tara — which were falling in no-go category. Ramesh was replaced by Natarajan in July.
Natarajan’s proposal is in line with the recommendations of the high-level B K Chaturvedi committee that submitted its report in July at the behest of the GoM to solve the no-go imbroglio. “It is important that extremely dense forests are, for the time being, not taken up for mining. Areas covered by wildlife and biodiversity also need to be excluded,” the report had said.
The Chaturvedi committee had, however, added that even in these “inviolate” areas, underground mining should be permitted, if technically feasible.
The Chaturvedi committee had vehemently opposed the No-Go policy arguing that overall regeneration of forests post mining activities can be much more in the long run than what may be temporarily lost. Besides, Chaturvedi had also cited advice of the law ministry and the Attorney General to refute the basis of No-Go policy.
India has a total coal bearing area of 17,300 square kilometres — 0.16 per cent of its total forest area. The No-Go policy covers 203 coal blocks spread over 3,039 square km. These blocks have an annual production potential of 660 mt which can fire over 130,000 Mw of power generation capacity. “Environmentally sensitive regions” account for less than 15 per cent of the total coal bearing area while a mere 10 per cent is covered by “extremely dense forest covers”.
