After suffering some setbacks in getting environmental clearance for its proposed new mines and expansion of existing ones earlier this year, Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) has received a boost for its plans of increasing the coal production to 70 million tonnes in 2019-20 by getting the green nod for Kistaram open cast mine recently.
The coal company has achieved a production of 64.4 million tonnes in 2018-19 and getting the environmental clearance for Kistaram open cast mine, with a capacity of 2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), in Sathupalli mandal of Khammam district is expected to go a long way in its plans to jack up the production by nearly 6 million tonnes. The green nod to the proposal has come three years after public hearing conducted on it.
According to SCCL officials, a committee of experts in the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) that has gone through the proposal has recommended clearance to the mine earlier this month and has stipulating several conditions to keep impact of the mining activity under check on air, water and local people. Environmental conditions in and around Sathupalli town were also appraised separately by the panel before giving its nod.
Dust control
Major conditions stipulated by the experts committee for taking up excavating coal in the mine include transportation of coal from mine face to coal heap through trucks by covering the coal, use of mist type sprinklers to control dust at source, crusher and in-pit belt conveyors and provision of water sprinklers all along the roads to control dust and other fugitive emissions.
Further, the committee asked the coal company to control dust emissions through mechanised sweeping, water sprinkling/mist spraying on haul roads and loading sites, long range misting/fogging arrangement, wind barrier wall, vertical greenery system, green belt and dust suppression arrangements at railway siding were among other specific conditions stipulated. The committee also asked the coal company to take specific measure to minimise the mining impact on air, water, noise, vibrations, stability of structures, health of people in nearby villages and their socio-economic conditions and relief and rehabilitation operations. The panel was particular on giving training in livelihood activities and skill development to persons of nearby villages to make them employable, conducting medical camps at least once in six months to ensure health and welfare of people in the nearby villages.
“We are expecting green nod for expansion of a few of our existing mines this year as also the commencement of production in coal block allotted to us in Chhattisgarh,” sources in SCCL stated.
