Coal Min seeks PM support for mining in 90% of 'no-go' areas

The coal ministry will soon seek support from the Prime Minister's Office for its proposal that mining be allowed in 90 per cent of coal blocks under 'no-mining' restrictions of the environment ministry.

A detailed Cabinet note seeks a direction from the PMO to the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF)for processing expeditious forest clearance for all coal blocks under'no-go' with the exception of 10 per cent of them, a highly placed source told PTI.

"All the proposals should be considered for forestry clearance unless these are insurmountable issues on grounds of biodiversity, wildlife reserves and rich forests," the draft Cabinet note said.

It said that the project promotorers can be mandated to regnerate the forest areas.

The MoEF has divided the mineral bearing regions into "go" and "no-go" areas.

As per the guidelines, the mining is allowed only in the "go" areas.

Of about 600 coal blocks, about 150 have been designated as "no go" areas by the MoEF whereas the coal ministry wants that 90 per cent of the 150 blocks be freed from the restriction.

The proposal was prepared after ascertaining views of different ministries, sources said adding, even the Planning Commission has raised no objection to this.

In September, a PMO-appointed panel had decided to refer the row between the coal and environment ministries to the Cabinet after classification of nearly half of coal-bearing areas in nine coalfields as "no go" areas by the latter.

Debarring such big areas with production capacity of 660 million tonnes coal from mining will adversely impact power generation capacity, the coal ministry proposal has argued.

The ministry is of the view that the country could see a coal shortage of 500 million tonnes in the next few years on account of such a classification.

Several coal blocks in the "no go" areas had been allotted to companies like Hindustan Zinc, Ultra Tech and Essar, along with a few blocks allocated for upcoming ultra-mega power projects.

The PMO has been mediating on the issue for the past about three months for finding a solution.