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Coal India told to file report on illegal mining at Assam’s Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve

National Board for Wild Life panel had noticed irregularities in a part of the region.

Updated - July 06, 2021 11:50 am IST - GUWAHATI

The NBWL standing committee held its 63rd meeting under the chairmanship of Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on June 11 to discuss Saleki and other issues across the country.

The NBWL standing committee held its 63rd meeting under the chairmanship of Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on June 11 to discuss Saleki and other issues across the country.

The Standing Committee of the National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) has asked Coal India Limited (CIL) to provide a detailed report on the events leading to illegal coal mining at a part of eastern Assam’s Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve.

The panel has also decided to defer a proposal for using 98.59 ha of the Saleki Proposed Reserve Forest, a part of the elephant reserve, for the Tikok open cast coal mining project by North Eastern Coalfields, a unit of CIL.

Operations in Tikok and the adjoining Tirap open cast project were temporarily suspended in June 2020 following reports of illegal mining in forestlands and protests over its impact on the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary, a subtropical rainforest that was upgraded to a national park in June this year.

The NBWL standing committee held its 63rd meeting under the chairmanship of Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on June 11 to discuss Saleki and other issues across the country. These included the upgrading of the Laldhang-Chillarkhal road in the buffer zone of Uttarakhand’s Rajaji National Park and rationalising the boundaries of and renaming the Salt Water Crocodile Sanctuary in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lohabarrack Sanctuary.

The NBWL panel had discussed the Saleki proposal in July 2019 but a sub-committee that inspected the site found some irregularities. The stoppage of coal mining in the area was subsequently recommended.

The panel noted that the proposal was initially for 98.59 ha and the already broken-up area reported till 2019 was 57.54 ha. In the proposal, it was mentioned that out of 57.54 ha, mining had taken place over an area of 44.57 ha after 2003, which the North Eastern Coalfields claimed to be legacy mine.

The Environment Ministry had accorded State I clearance on the basis of the mining after 2003 but noted that violations had taken place in 57.54 ha and penal provisions invoked. But it was noted in a previous meeting of the NBWL panel that another 16 ha had been mined.

On June 10, the Assam government and the North Eastern Coalfields were asked to inform the NBWL panel when the additional 16-hectare area was encroached upon and mined. The Assam government was also asked to submit a report within 30 days after consultation with all relevant stakeholders for fixing responsibilities.

After the discussion, the panel decided to defer the matter and directed CIL to explain the events leading to illegal coal mining in the project area. North Eastern Coalfields has also been asked to stop all mining activities forthwith till a decision on approval is taken.

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