Tara block withdrawn from commercial coal mining auction process

Tara coal block is in the Hasdeo Aranya forest area (Surajpur district) and has 15.96sq km of very dense forest (VDF) area in the coal mine.

RAIPUR The Union coal ministry has withdrawn the Tara coal block from the commercial mining auction process following objections by the Chhattisgarh government as it falls in an area with 81% forest cover in the state’s Hasdeo Aranya, according to a notice issued by the ministry last Friday.

On June 23, the Chhattisgarh government wrote a letter to the central coal ministry to keep nine coal blocks out of 23 (in Chhattisgarh) from the auction process for commercial mining citing environmental reasons. This included the Tara coal block. (File photo)

“The Ministry of Coal had launched the 7th round and second attempt of the 6th round of Commercial Coal Mine Auction on March 29, 2023. Tara Coal Mine was offered under the 7th round of commercial coal mine auction. However, the competent authority has decided to withdraw the coal mine from the current auction process,” the notice stated.

Tara coal block is in the Hasdeo Aranya forest area (Surajpur district) and has 15.96sq km of very dense forest (VDF) area in the coal mine.

On June 23, the Chhattisgarh government wrote a letter to the central coal ministry to keep nine coal blocks out of 23 (in Chhattisgarh) from the auction process for commercial mining citing environmental reasons. This included the Tara coal block.

Tara was the only coal block from Chhattisgarh that received bidders, according to the list issued by coal ministry on June 28. The bidders were Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation, Jindal Steel and Power Limited and Raigarh Natural Resources Limited.

The state government had also said that the Chhattisgarh forest and climate change department cited loss to the environment as the reason for asking the central government to withdraw the nine coal blocks.

The nine coal blocks were Tara (Surajpur district), Karkoma (Korba), Koilar ( Raigarh), Tendumudi (Raigarh), Jilga Barpali (Korba), Barpali Kalmi Tikra (Korba), Batati Kolga North East (Korba), Batati Kolga East (Korba) and Fetehpur south (Raigarh).

Tara is in Hasdeo Arand forest area and the other eight coal blocks are in the catchment area of Mand river which flows in the Mand-Raigarh forest area. On 26 July 2022, the Chhattisgarh assembly passed a resolution to oppose mining in the entire Hasdeo forest area.

The Union government in March 2023 announced the 7th round of its coal mine auction. The total number of mines to be auctioned is 101, including the Tara block in Chhattisgarh’s Hasdeo Aranya, which has a forest cover of 81%.

Sudiep Shrivastava, a Chhattisgarh-based advocate who is also the main litigant against mining in Hasdeo Aranya, said, “The withdrawal was very important for the biodiversity of Hasdeo Aranya, as around 10 lakh trees are there in this block, which is densely forested. The Centre’s policy of auction also says that it avoids mining if blocks have more than 30% forest cover.”

Activists lauded the state government’s efforts towards the withdrawal of the block. “The state government has played an admirable role in ensuring these constitutional provisions and views of local communities are respected, which the central government seems to have agreed to abide by. We wholeheartedly welcome this move and hope that the entire Hasdeo Aranya region gets protected, and all remaining coal blocks, including Parsa and Kete Extension, also be similarly deallocated as per the commitment of the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha and the gram sabha resolutions,” said Alok Shuka, convener of the Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan.