Power Ministry moves to save projects in 'no-go' mining zones - Mulls boundary adjustments, sites in 'go' areas

Amid plans to ring-fence nearly half the country's coal-bearing areas as no-mining zones, the Power Ministry is considering the option of accommodating affected blocks through boundary adjustment where permissible or moving proposed sites to the ‘go' zones.The Ministry of Environment and Forests had earlier classified certain coal blocks as ‘no-go' zones — areas with dense forest cover where mining will not be allowed.

Existing blocks, where “substantive work” has been done by the developer on the ground, however, will not be affected by the new ‘no-go' classification, Power Ministry officials said.“The problem is mostly with the coal-fired power projects that have been lined up for the Twelfth Plan. We are working on the blocks that are slated to be affected under the new classification. Some blocks could be accommodated through boundary adjustment while others could be shifted from ‘no-go' to ‘go' zones,” a senior Power Ministry official said.

Submission of bids

As a result of the new environmental classification, the Power Ministry had further extended the date of submission of initials bids for a proposed Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) in Chhattisgarh, as the coal mines initially earmarked for the project fell under the “no-go” zones.

Coal block allocated for another UMPP planned in Orissa is also awaiting environment clearance.

The Prime Minister's Office has for the past two months been mediating to find a solution on the issue of classification of coal mining belts into ‘go' and ‘no-go' areas, which saw the Ministries of Coal and Environment locking horns.

The Coal, Power and the Steel Ministries had separately petitioned the PMO for breaking the logjam, citing delays in projects under the new mining proposal.A PMO-appointed panel looking at the issue, headed by Planning Commission Member, Mr B.K. Chaturvedi, is said to have suggested that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) is the right forum to decide on the row among the Ministries over classification of coal-bearing areas and providing for alternative coal blocks to those affected by this new ‘no-go' zones policy, officials said.

Deliberations on the issue were held by the PMO during the last two months and it was felt that in some areas companies have already made investments, especially those awarded the UMPP, and remedial measures needed to be taken in specific cases. For a company to get an alternative mining location, the panel had recommended that blocks falling in a ‘no-go' zone should have been awarded before end of June 2010.

The nine coalfields that were analysed included North Karanpura and West Bokaro (Jharkhand), IB Valley (Orissa and Chhattisgarh) Singrauli (Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh), Talcher (Orissa), Wardha (Maharashtra), Mandirgarh and Hasdeo (Chhattisgarh) and Shoagpur (Madhya Pradesh).