The environment ministry has suggested to the mines ministry to carry out a study on caping extraction of minerals such as limestone, the government has said.
"The ministry, vide letter dated December 6, 2017, has suggested the Ministry of Mines for carrying out a capping study for minerals like limestone," Minister of State for Environment Mahesh Sharma said in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha recently.
He was asked whether the government has suggested limits on production of minerals such as limestone as there is encroachment into agricultural land for mining of such minerals.
He said that the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) while appraising the project for grant of environmental clearance, takes into consideration the impact on land use and land cover of the area and if required, restricts the mining activity to a limited area and to a limited production capacity.
Asked whether the government has put any ceiling in order to conserve environment, he said, "No, as on date the government has not put any ceiling."
Replying to another question, he said under the Environment Protection Act, the government has issued the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification 1994 on January 27 that year.
Subsequently, EIA Notification 2006 was issued dated September 14, 2006, superseding the EIA Notification 1994 amended from time to time. "In the last three years, it has been amended 14 times," he said.
He said the terms and conditions of the notifications have been violated and a total number of 224 complaints have been received by his ministry in the last three years.
He was asked whether notifications are issued by the government under the Environment Protection Act regarding environmental clearance and whether the terms and conditions on the basis of which the notifications were issued, have been or are being violated.
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