The Ministry of Coal (MoC) has severely criticized, both, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and the governments of coal-bearing states for their less than exemplary pace of processing forest clearance (FC) proposals for coal mining projects at their respective levels. - According to the MoC, while the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2003, stipulate that the grant of FC should take only 150 days for new projects and 120 days for renewals, it is not uncommon for a coal mining project to wait for three, five or even six years for the green sanction.
- An analysis of the numbers reveals that the average amount of time taken for a developer to obtain the Stage-I clearance is about 4.5 years at state level and 1.93 years at the union level.
- Similarly, the Stage-II clearance proposals take 5.4 years and 1.6 years, respectively, to be cleared by the state and the MoEF.
- As a consequence, a total 154 coal mining projects of Coal India Limited, alone, are at a standstill, pending the grant of FC, comprised of 105 projects awaiting Stage-I and 49 Stage-II clearances.
- The MoC has now asked MoEF to pull up its socks and ensure that FCs are fast-tracked to meet the stipulations of the 2003 Rules and also direct the concerned state governments accordingly.
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