Mining can start in non-forest areas without final green approval
The environment ministry has empowered states to allow mining in non-forest areas without the final approval from the forest ministry, reversing a UPA-introduced rule considered a major roadblock in fast execution of mining leases for coal and other major minerals.
The environment ministry has empowered states to allow mining in non-forest areas without the final approval from the forest ministry, reversing a UPA-introduced rule considered a major roadblock in fast execution of mining leases for coal and other major minerals.
The decision can lead to faster extraction of minerals as around 50% of the land in mining leases falls in non-forest areas.
In April 2014, the then UPA government had made it mandatory for mining companies to await a final clearance from the forest ministry for both forest and non-forest areas to start mining.
The new rule was introduced this month through a notification by the NDA government which took heed of a representation by the coal ministry seeking delinking of mining in non-forest areas from final forest approval as it was delaying execution of several projects.
Official sources said the green ministry issued the notification after considering the representation and consulting the mines ministry, which said that the change would be in accordance with the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act of 1957.
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“The state government, if so desires, may execute a separate mining lease for whole or part of non-forest land falling in such mining lease,” the notification month said. “The state governments, in such cases, will ensure that there is no violation of the Forest Conservation Act”.
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“The state government, if so desires, may execute a separate mining lease for whole or part of non-forest land falling in such mining lease,” the notification month said. “The state governments, in such cases, will ensure that there is no violation of the Forest Conservation Act”.
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The UPA government had introduced the rule to thwart alleged attempt by companies to seek a quid pro quo approach on the ground that the forest ministry’s rejection of the approval would result in loss of huge investment already done in the non-forest areas.
The stage-I approval is primarily to study the impact of project activity on the local flora fauna. Once the study is completed and submitted, the forest advisory committee (FAC) decides on the final approval for diversion of the forest land.
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Since coming to power, the NDA government has pushed for simpler rules and faster clearance of projects to attract investments in mining, a sector that has been mired in corruption over allocation of coal blocks.
It also introduced auctioning of coal and other major mineral mines through electronic mode in a bid to bring in transparency in the process.
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.
