Energiser for power

The government today said some of the coal blocks in the “no-go” mining areas might be classified under “go” areas to hasten the execution of mega power (4,000mw) projects, including the two in Orissa and Chhattisgarh.The ministry of environment and forests has classified certain coal blocks as “no-go”, or areas where mining cannot be done because of dense forest cover.

“We are working on them (reclassification). Some (coal blocks) could be accommodated through boundary adjustment. Some could go from ‘no-go’ to ‘go’ areas,” power secretary P. Uma Shankar told reporters here.“We will keep environment concerns in mind and manage both (capacity addition and environment) for the development of the power sector,” Shankar said.

Power ministry officials said two of the three coal blocks associated with the Bedabahal (Orissa) project — Meenakshi, Meenakshi B and Meenakshi dipside — are in “no-go” areas, where the environment ministry does not permit any mining activities.The Chhattisgarh project is facing similar problems as the Hasdeo Arand field has been declared a “no-go” area.

The delay in environmental clearance has forced the power ministry to extend the date for the submission of initial bids for these two projects.Each of the projects has a capacity of 4,000MW and requires an investment of between Rs 16,000 crore and Rs 20,000 crore.

Following the intervention of the finance minister and the Prime Minister’s office, the ministries of environment, coal and power are carrying out a joint exercise to identify certain areas where the diversion of forest land for coal mining can be considered.The coal and power ministries are pushing for a revised classification of forest land into “go”, “no-go” and “may-go” areas.While mining will be prohibited in no-go areas, access to the may-go zones will be given after proper evaluation, officials said.

The environmental blow to coal mining has come at a time country is likely to add around 55,000 MW of generation capacity against the targeted 62,000 MW in the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12).

The power ministry had planned to set up nine UMPPs, with four projects at pithead and five in coastal locations (with imported coal), to help meet the electricity generation target of 100,000 mw in the 12th plan period (2012-17).