Environment minister relents on coal-mining in forest areas

[Mrudul Godbole]

Environment minister relents on coal-mining in forest areas
Nitin Sethi, TNN, Jul 10, 2010, 02.52am IST


NEW DELHI: In the face of consistent pressure from the coal ministry and the PMO, environment minister Jairam Ramesh backed off from his 'no-go' policy on coal blocks, claiming that its existing work was only 'indicative' and it could revise which forest areas could be opened to extraction.

The step back by Ramesh comes in the wake of strong opposition from Coal India Limited, which is to float an IPO to offload 10% stake, and the coal ministry which had warned that large, thickly packed zones of coal would be blocked out by the environment ministry's move.

The environment ministry, along with Survey of India, had drawn up green and red zones in nine major coal blocks of the country stating that it would not entertain proposals for diversion of forest land in the areas marked with dense and moderate forests.

Calling its exercise 'indicative' and open to further 'detailed analysis', the environment ministry said it would involve an advisor level officer from the coal ministry in all its decisions pertaining to coal mining. The official would be invited to all meetings of its statutory Expert Advisory Committee which reviews thermal projects and coal mining.

The environment ministry had just days ago relented for the first time adding 36,000 hectares to the forest zones open to mining on the insistence of the coal ministry and the intervention of the PMO.

Link - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/H...ow/6149256.cms

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Looks like the flood gates are opening. The environment ministry can no longer fight against the "fiscal considerations". Conservation is after all dictated by Politics and Economics (as our we see it)....No body takes into consideration the overall impact. Our economic accounting principles don't have any understanding of the impact of environmental destruction. It seems we are only concerned about the short term.