A four-member committee headed by the Chandrapur range Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF), has denied permission to the proposed open cast mining project of the Adani Power Limited(APL) near Lohara in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra.
The proposed Lohara site is near the Tadoba Andheri Tiger Reserve (TATR) which is opposed by environmental activists which led to the formation of the committee.
It was headed by B.S.K.Reddy, CCF Chandrapur range.
The committee submitted its report earlier this month.
The report, a copy of which is with The Hindu , mentions that any mining lease allowed around the TATR would result in the isolation of the TATR form the rest of the Central Indian Landscape which would jeopardize the very survival of tigers in the TATR. The isolation of the healthy population would lead to gradual deterioration of the Tiger Reserve.
Mining and other related activities will adversely affect wildlife movements outside protected area also, says the report.
“Adani Power Limited was rejected permission in 2009 but in a meeting of Coal ministry on March 12, 2012, the APL was asked to re-submit its application to the concerned state government .But now that the committee headed by the CCF has rejected the APL’s proposal , we are extremely happy by its decision” said Bandu Dhotre of NGO ECO PRO which was actively opposing APL’s proposed project near the TATR.
The report also states that the APL has been denied permission because the proposed mining site is near sensitive tiger corridor and it is also a part of the proposed Eco-Sensitive zone.
The report also mentions the opposition to the APL’s proposed project from the environmental activists of the region.
