Coal India initiates process to seek green nod for 218 mines

NEW DELHI: Coal India ( CIL) has initiated the process of seeking environmental clearances for 218 mines, which were being operated without the green nod, Parliament was informed today.

The mines, alloted to CIL before 1994, did not require environmental clearance (EC) at the time of allotment and were being operated on renewal of lease basis, Minister of State for Coal Pratik Prakashbapu Patil said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

However, following the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 2006 notification, these mines have come under the category of violation and Coal India has initiated the process to secure the green nod, Patil added.

"CIL has immediately initiated action to obtain the required environmental clearances and (they) are under different stages of approval," he said.

Of the 218 mines of Coal India, 103 belongs to the PSU's subsidiary Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), followed by 91 to Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), 20 to Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) and four to Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), the minister further said.

The mines have been clubbed into clusters for obtaining fresh environmental clearance, Patil said, adding that "Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has principally agreed to the cluster concept of old legacy mines and all are being processed accordingly for obtaining clearances".

Accordingly, 91 mines of Eastern Coalfields have been clubbed into 13 clusters for seeking clearances and proposals for 11 clusters of ECL have been submitted to MoEF, he said.

Similarly, 103 mines of BCCL have been grouped into 17 clusters and of this, terms of references have been received for 16 clusters.

The Minister further said that Coal India has also initiated the process of seeking clearance for 24 old operating mines of Central Coalfields and Mahanadi Coalfields.

"Some of them are in the final stages of getting EC approval from MoEF," Patil added.