The Centre’s Forestry Advisory Committee recommended the first phase of deforestation for three major coal mining projects that involve converting more than 1,700 hectares of forest land and felling nearly 389,000 trees. A total of 13 projects were cleared, totaling more than 2,000 hectares of forest land, the latest meeting minutes showed.
In its meeting on July 6, the committee recommended approval of the first phase of Alaknanda coal mine in Odisha; Burunga underground coal block and Belma open pit mine – both in Chhattisgarh. Together, the three projects represent 1,737 hectares of the 2,004 hectares of forest land recommended for conversion across 13 projects considered by the committee.
The minutes, seen by HT, state that the Burunga coal block project in Chhattisgarh will require felling of 4,368 trees. The state has reported occasional stray movement of wildlife species such as jungle cat, Asian elephant, Indian pangolin, sloth bear and Indian fox in and around the lands proposed for conversion. That’s why A $A wildlife management plan worth Rs 14.81 lakh crore was also approved.
The Belma open pit mine project covers a total leased mining area of 2,077,935 hectares, of which 362,109 hectares are forest land. A total of 52,570 trees are proposed to be cut in the project. She added that the state forest department has noticed stray elephants moving through the area, though there is no proper corridor for elephants here.
However, the biggest impact of all will be from the Alaknanda coal mining project in Odisha, where more than 330,000 trees are likely to be damaged.
Experts said the projects, especially the Alaknanda coal block, are affecting a large area of forest land, while also displacing village and forest communities. “Similar to the Sijimali bauxite mining project in Odisha, where the rights of indigenous communities have been violated, the Alaknanda site in Odisha is also tribal land, and hence it not only affects a large number of trees and prime forest patches, but also affects villages,” said Prakriti Srivastava, a retired FSS officer who was also part of the environment ministry.
For deforestation and conversion of forest land for development projects, three stages of clearing are usually required under the Forest Conservation Act. While the first stage permit is considered an approval in principle, the second stage permit is granted after all stipulated conditions are met. This is the final approval and is followed by a final transfer order issued by the state to complete the process.
Besides the three coal projects, the committee also recommended approval for the first phase of conversion of forest land into Tata Steel’s Gandhalpada iron ore block in Odisha, Surajkund Tourism Complex in Haryana, CRPF battalion campus in Tripura, three hydrocarbon exploration proposals from Oil India in Tripura, Jal Jeevan Mission project for drinking water supply in Karnataka, and three proposals from BPCL for retail access roads in Uttar Pradesh. And Bihar. Together, these projects represent about 267 hectares of forest land and the felling of 32,808 trees – a small fraction of the forest conversion and tree loss associated with the three coal mines.
