SUPPLEMENTARY AGENDA ITEM NO.1

Transcription

1 SUPPLEMENTARY AGENDA ITEM NO.1 Sub: Diversion of ha of forest land of Duarguiburu Iron ore lease (total lease area ha) for iron ore mining of M/s Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL); Request of the User Agency (M/s SAIL) to de-link the grant of Forest Clearance of Gua Mines of Duargaiburu Iron Ore lease (total lease area ha) from the finalization of Integrated Wildlife Management Plan to be submitted by the State Government and grant of Stage-I clearance to entire ha of forest land originally applied for diversion. F. No /1986-FC 1. The instant proposal forwarded by the Government of Jharkhand vide their letter no. 3/Van Bhumi-62/ dated relates to the diversion of ha of forest land of Duarguiburu Iron ore lease (total lease area ha) for iron ore mining of M/s Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). 2. The proposal was placed before the FAC in its meeting held on 2 nd April, 2009 wherein the SAIL was permitted to continue mining over already broken up areas subject to the conditions as given under: i. The State Government will charge the Net Present Value of the forest area diverted under this proposal from the user agency. ii. All funds received from the user agency under the project shall be transferred to Adhoc CAMPA account. iii. Prepare and submit a comprehensive wildlife conservation plan in consultation with CWLW and WII for further consideration of the project. iv. Prepare a comprehensive plan for reducing the water pollution level in Karo and Koena rivers. v. Strictly adhere to the reclamation plan for rehabilitating the already mined over areas. 3. The FAC in its meeting held on 7 th May, 2010 re-examined the proposal in light of the compliance of the conditions stipulated by the FAC on 2 nd April, 2009, undertaking given by the user agency to implement all the measures to preserve the ecological sensitivity of the regions and wildlife importance in term of wild elephant corridors, etc. After detailed discussions, the FAC recommended the extension of mining lease for a period of another one year subject to the conditions which are given below: a) The State Government shall charge NPV of the entire forest area involved in this proposal from the user agency, if not already realized, as per the judgment of the Hon ble Supreme Court of India dated & in I.A. No. 566 in WP (C) No. 202/1995 and as per the guidelines issued by this Ministry vide letter no. 5-3/2007-FC dated in this regard. b) The user agency shall furnish an undertaking to pay the additional NPV, if so determined, as per the final decision of Hon ble Supreme Court of India. c) The ecological suggestion of saving the Central and Western ridge of the Saranda be changed into administrative decision, especially a plan to phase out the Chiria mines which are situated in the center of the prime forest area.

2 d) A comprehensive wildlife conservation plan be prepared in consultation with CWLW and WII and WTI (Shri R.K. Singh) in a defined time frame and with reference to total no. of applications received, inside or outside of eastern ridge, broken and unbroken area so far, and other players operating in Saranda, etc. e) A team should be formed to look into ecological aspect, wildlife aspect, indigenous population aspect to identify the contiguous ports and the Saranda forest which need to made free of mining lease. f) The Chiria group of mines would be discussed separately. 4. Subsequently, in view of recommendations of the FAC mentioned above, the MoEF accorded approval for another one year vide letter placed at pg 535/c dated 15 th May/15 th June, The State Government submitted the compliance report of conditions mentioned above as given under: a) The user agency has deposited Rs. 53,97,80,435/- as NPV amount and the same has been deposited in the account of CAMPA. Information in this regard has already been communicated vide letter no dated b) The user agency has given an undertaking vide letter no. RMD/RS/Ranchi/10/126 dated c) A team of expert for Comprehensive Wildlife Management Plan has been constituted vide notification dated Vanya prani-09/ dated (p 562/c). However, in the meantime, the Government of India vide letter no. 8-70/2009-FC dated has in-principally approved the renewal of diversion ha of broken up forest land and ha of additional forest land (total lease area ha) in favour of M/s SAIL in its Manoharpur group of mining leases in Chiria subject to 33 conditions. The condition no. 17 directs to prepare Comprehensive Wildlife and Biodiversity Management Plan in consultation with WII, WTI and WWF with support from M/S SAIL. In light of aforesaid directions, it makes no sense, to get the Wildlife Management Plan prepared by the team constituted by the State Government. The State Government vide letter no. 404 dated (p 557/c) has requested the WII, Dehradun, WTI and WWF to prepare the CWMP within a period of 9 months. 6. Along with the compliance report as indicated above, the State Government has also forwarded the request of the user agency for extension of one year working permission as the permission granted earlier was going to expire on The above proposal was placed before the FAC in its meeting held on and the Committee noted that conditions (c) and (d) (mentioned under para 3 above) has not yet been fulfilled even after 2 years. The Committee, in view of the Guidelines given under para 4.17 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and non-compliance of the conditions of preparation of Comprehensive Wildlife Management Plan, rejected the extension permission of mining lease. The FAC also recommended that the State Government should submit the report on the wildlife management plan by September, However, the Hon ble Minister (E&F), after deliberating the issue in a meeting with the Chairman of SAIL and commitment given by the SAIL to prepare the wildlife management plan by April, 2012, recommended the reconsideration of renewal of mining lease after submission of preliminary report by July, 2011.The Hon ble Minister further directed that FAC will consider the renewal in broken area on the submission of

3 preliminary report. Full permission can be considered only when detailed wildlife management plan is submitted. 9. The Executive Director, SAIL submitted a preliminary report on Comprehensive Wildlife Management Plan, as desired vide this Ministry letter dated 20 th July, It was also informed by the project proponent that a team, in consultation with the State Forest Department, comprising of Dr. DS Srivastava (Principal Investigator) and Dr. PS Easa, Ex Director, KFRI, Peechi and other reputed Experts has been constituted. The said team visited the site from 18 th to 21 st July. The team conducted reconnaissance survey of the area. 10. Subsequently, the proposal was again considered by the FAC in its meeting held on 27 th December, 2011 and the committee recorded its displeasure and dissatisfaction over the fact that the Wildlife Management Plan has yet not been prepared even after a lapse of two years. During the meeting, the project proponents have also made a presentation and informed that Wildlife Management plan is likely to be ready by the end of March, After detailed discussions on the project, the Committee recommended that the Wildlife Management Plan of the area may first be submitted by the State Government to this Ministry, which may be forwarded by the Ministry to Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun and Dr. R.K. Singh, WWF, India to seek their views on the Plan. The matter may be then placed before the FAC for consideration along with the plan and views thereon. Recommendation of the FAC were communicated to the State Government vide this Ministry s letter dated After receipt of Comprehensive Wildlife Management Plan prepared for West Singhbhum region of Jharkhand from the project proponent, this Ministry vide its letter dated forwarded the report to the Wildlife Institute of India and Dr. R.K. Singhfor seeking their comments on the Plan and to apprise the FAC, if the wildlife issues have been adequately addressed in the said Management Plan? 12. Proposal, after receipt of the preliminary comments from and Dr. R. K. Singh, was discussed in the meeting of Forest Advisory Committee held on and the Committee after detailed discussion on the proposal with the user agency and in light of its earlier observation, had desired a presentation from the State Government on identification of proposed inviolate area including criteria as well as overall mining scenario, mines working as well as likely to come up for consideration in Saranda. The Committee desired to discuss on these aspects with Principal Secretary (Mines), PCCF, Jharkhand, PCCF (Wildlife), Jharkhand. 13. Subsequently, the FAC considered the proposal in its meeting on 15/05/2012. Discussion were also held with Principal Secretary (Mines), PCCF Jharkhand and PCCF (Wildlife) Jharkhand, Additional Chief Secretary, Forest, Environment & Mines, Government of Jharkhand, PCCF (Wildlife) Jharkhand. A representative from the WWF India was also invited for the meeting. 14. During the meeting, the PCCF Wildlife stated that the Wildlife Conservation Plan submitted by the Expert Committee constituted by the State Government is a draft plan and as per terms of reference, the Chief Wildlife Warden is required to submit his comments for its incorporation in the Management Plan which is to be submitted to the Ministry. The Wildlife Institute of India and the WWF India have already submitted their comments on the Draft Management Plan which were provided to CWLW, Jharkhand in the meeting. Government of Jharkhand is to finalize the Wildlife Management Plan and furnish to the Ministry.

4 15. The Additional Chief Secretary, Forest, Environment & Mines, Govt. of Jharkhand observed that the Saranda area has a unique combination of rich forest and rich mineral deposits and emphasized the necessity of extraction of the minerals for development of State and local population, though under strict regulation. 16. The PCCF Jharkhand emphasized that there should be intensive mining and not extensive mining. He mentioned that instead of opening mines all around, the existing leases should be utilized fully. He brought to the notice of FAC that only about 10% area of the various leases granted for mining has been opened up. He advocated that all the forest area which has yet not been leased out should be inviolate area and no mining should be allowed at least for the time being till existing leases are fully exhausted. He emphasized that new leases may be granted from amongst the existing leases where large areas have not been broken up even after several years. 17. Considering the issues discussed above and their considerable efforts in formulating a Wildlife Management Plan, it was requested by the State Government that the project proponent M/s SAIL, a major Public Sector Undertaking of Government of India, may be granted clearance for mining of iron ore in the already broken up forest area. The Additional Chief Secretary categorically confirmed and assured that this clearance granted to M/s SAIL shall not be cited as an example to seek clearance for proposals for mining from other project proponent(s). 18. Keeping in view the above submissions, the Committee recommended grant of forest clearance only for already broken up area from amongst the area demanded. 19. In accordance with the recommendations of the FAC, the Ministry has granted Stage-I approval under Forest (Conservation) Act on 14/08/2012 for already broken up area ( ha. out of ha. applied) in the lease. It is also to be noted that the State Government is yet to submit the final wildlife management plan. 20. Subsequently, the Ministry of Steel submitted a draft CCI note for the approval of the CCI for extending the grant of Stage-I approval for entire forest land of ha, instead of ha as accorded by the MoEF under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, of Durgaiburu lease of Gua Iron Ore mine to augment the iron ore production capacity of Gua iron ore mine of SAIL from 2.4 MT to 10 MT including installation of Beneficiation and Pellet plant facilities. Note was considered by the CCI in its meeting held on and CCI directed that necessary clearances will be accorded by the Ministry of Environment and Forests within one month of the receipt of the information from the State Government by constituting a special meeting of the Forest Advisory Committee, if necessary. 21. The MoEF, in its comments on the draft CCI note informed that the project proponents may formally submit a request to this Ministry through the State Government for reconsideration of the proposal for the entire forest area in the mining lease alongwith detailed justification, which should address the concerns of the FAC on the basis of which the recommendation for clearance of only already broken up area has been made by the Committee. The Ministry will place the justification before the Forest Advisory Committee for its consideration. 22. The MoEF, in view of the decision taken by the CCI in its meeting held on and pending the final Wildlife Management Plan from the State Government, vide its letter dated requested the State Government of Jharkhand to submit the Wildlife Management Plan at the earliest and to direct the project proponents to formally submit a request to this Ministry through the State Government for reconsideration of the

5 proposal for ha of forest area in the mining lease alongwith detailed justification, which should address the concerns of the FAC on the basis of which the recommendation for clearance of only already broken up area has been made by the Committee. 23. Subsequently, the State Government of Jharkhand vide their letter dated forwarded the request of the user agency (SAIL) for extension of working permission for a period of another one year. The matter has been examined in the Ministry as per clause 4.18 and the Central Government, pending submission of the Wildlife Management Plan for entire Saranda Forests by the State Government, Jharkhand, had accorded working permission for a period of three months which will be expiring on 13 November 2013 and thereafter on a reference dated received from Hon ble Minister of Steel, MoEF further granted extension of the working permission by seven months pending submission of the Wildlife Management Plan by the Government of Jharkhand. 24. Recently, a reference from the Chairman, Steel Authority of India, addressed to the Secretary, MoEF has been received wherein this Ministry has been requested to de-link the grant of Stage-I forest clearance to the entire area of ha in light of following of following submission have been made: i. The Integrated Wildlife Management Plan (IWMP) prepared by the Committee has stated that the area of existing/proposed leases would be excluded from being declared as Conservation Reserve. Hence, the area of ha for which forest clearance has been applied and is part of the Durgaiburu lease of the Gua Mines (which is an area of Ha), naturally get excluded from the proposed Conservation Reserve area. ii. On the issue of expenditure being incurred, in terms of the above mentioned notification of the Government of Jharkhand, all expenditure for the preparation of IWMP is to be incurred by SAIL.For the implementation of the IWMP, the same is to be shared by the all the user agencies in proportion to the area allotted to each. The cost incurred by SAIL in the preparation of IWMP is to be adjusted in the shared expenditure of implementation. iii. In may also be pertinent to mention that SAIL has planned an investment of about Rs crores, which would increase the capacity of the Gua Mines to a level of 10 mtpa from the current level of 2.4 mtpa. 25. In view of the above, submissions, this Ministry has been requested for delinking the grant of Forest Clearance for ha of Duargaiburu lease of Gua Mines from the IWMP approval. This would help facilitate SAIL taking up an investment of Rs crores for development of mine and related facilities to a level of 10 Mtpa to meet the enhanced requirement of SAIL (post expansion) which has already been approval by the Board of Directors of SAIL. 26. The project proponents, vide their letter dated has also informed this Ministry that they have submitted a request to the State Government for reconsideration of the proposal for the entire forest area in the mining lease alongwith detailed justification, addressing the concerns of the FAC on the basis of which the recommendation for clearance of only already broken up area has been made by the Committee. A copy of the same is placed at F/X. In view of the above facts related to the proposal and request of the project proponents to de-link the proposal from the finalization of IWLP, the proposal may be submitted to the FAC, for its consideration in its forthcoming meeting.

6 Fact sheet of the proposal is also enclosed. FACT SHEET 1. Name of the Proposal Diversion of ha of forest land of Duarguiburu Iron ore lease (total lease area ha) for iron ore mining in favour of M/s Steel Authority of India Limited (IISCO) in Saranda Forest Division in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. 2. Location i) State Jharkhand ii) District West Singhbhum 3. Particulars of Forests a) Name of Forest Division Saranda Forest Division b) Forest area involved ha c) Legal Status/Sy. No Reserve Forest d) Map Enclosed (p-66/c) 4. Topography of the area - 5. (i) Vegetation Aam, Asan, Bargad, bel, Bhelura, Bija, Chahar, Doka, Gamhar, Baria, Chatni, Dhowarah, Kada, Kusum, Sisam, Kendu, etc. (ii) No. of trees which will be 39,120 trees are required to be felled. affected (iii) Density Whether area is significant from wildlife point of view 7. Details of Mining i. Total project area ii. Notified forest land iii. Area of jungle / jhar - iv. Tenancy land / non-forest - The area in question as very important from Wildlife point of view. It forms core area of Singhbhum Elephant Reserve. v. Period of mining lease Twenty years proposed vi. Total reserve MT of mineable reserve vii. Reserve in forest area - viii. Reserve in non-forest area - ix. Annual estimated production 2.5 million tones x. Nature of mining operation Open cast xi. Phased reclamation plan 20 year phase plan with 1 st phase beginning in till 2029 xii. Gradient of the mining area - xiii. No of labourers to be employed Direct employment persons SC -108 ST Compensatory Afforestation The user agency has not complied with the approval dated on CA on the plea that the area was broken prior to 1980.

7 9. Catchment Area Treatment Rehabilitation of Oustees a) No of families involved Not Applicable b) Category of families c) Details of rehabilitation plan 11. Reclamation of mined areas The Phased Reclamation Plan is submitted 12. Cost Benefit Ratio 1: Recommendation i. DFO ii. PCCF iii.state Government All have recommended the proposal. p-33/c. p-41/c. p-42/c. 14. District Profile (i) Total Geographical area of District 9907 sq km (ii) Total forest area of District / Divisional forest area 3727 sq km - (iii) Total area diverted since ha in 19 no of cases (iv) Total CA stipulated Forest land : ha Non-forest land : ha (iv) Total CA done since 1980 Forest land : Nil (as on ) Non-forest land : Nil Other Remarks: 1. The Duarguiburu lease on ha was granted to M/s. IISCO for the period of 30 years w.e.f Though the user agency applied for first renewal in 1978, but the same was granted on after the promulgation of the Forest (Conservation) Act, The mining lease for the Duarguiburu mine was valid up to The original user agency i.e. M/s. IISCO was merged with the M/s. Steel Authority of India Limited on with GOI approval. 5. The instant proposal involves renewal of already diverted ha forest and diversion of fresh ha of forest land. 6. Item-wise break - up of the forest land proposed for diversion is given below. Sl. No. Purpose Existing area (in ha) Additional area Proposed (in ha) Total area (in ha) (i) Excavated area (Mining area) (ii) Top Soil storage (iii) Waste Dump (iv) Sub Grade Ore Dump (v) Mineral stock yard (vi) Infrastructure (vii) Roads (viii) Afforestation (ix) Mineral Beneficiation Plant

8 (x) Town ship area (xi) Tailing pond Sub Total (xii) Safety Zone area Sub total (xiii) Balance forest land will be maintained as a forest land at the cost of user agency for the use of area Grand total The State Government has prepared a comprehensive scheme for wildlife conservation for the SAIL s Gua group of mines, namely Duarguiburu, Jilli 8. ngburu-i & II and Topailore for an amount of Rs.6.92 crores (p- 347 to 357/c). 9. The Regional CCF (Wildlife) has expressed his reservation on preparation of such sporadic schemes and has advocated comprehensive plan for the entire area. However, the PCCF did not agree with the views of the RCCF at p-4/c. 10. The mining plan along with mine closure plan has been accorded approval vide IBM letter dated at p-74/c. 11. The user agency has given reclamation plan for 20 years period at p-190/c. 12. The user agency has applied for Environment clearance at p-255/c. 13. The user agency has given an undertaking to bear the cost of CA at p-211/c. 14. The user agency has also submitted an undertaking to pay NPV at p-263/c. 15. No violation of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 has been reported. 16. The total cost of the project is Rs. Rs croresat p-29/c. 17. There is no archaeological / heritage site / defence establishment or any other important monument located in the area. 18. The User agency has also submitted a copy of the no objection certificates from the Gram Sabha at p-202 to 210 /c. 19. The State Government has recommended the proposal with the following conditions: a. Forest and wild life of surrounding RF of applied area will be highly disturbed and as such, it has to be protected from fire and anti-social elements by deputing tracker and fire watcher by project cost. b. The user agency should adopt at least 10 villages of surrounding applied area of Saranda Division for providing medical facilities, drinking water & irrigation facilities, education etc. on the line of model village.

9 c. For monitoring the project and for controlling accidental / natural fire happening in and around the proposed project area, the user shall provide vehicle and other modern equipments, to the local forest department staff. d. Phase reclamation as per the approved mining plan is mandatory. e. The parts of the area i.e ha proposed is already broken and remaining ha is proposed for fresh mining. The ore reserve in the broken area is yet to be exhausted. Hence, the fresh diversion may be accorded with specific condition. SITE INSPECTION REPORT: 1. The site inspection has been done by the Regional Office, Bhubaneshwar. 2. Legal status of the forest land is reserved Forest as given below: Type Area (in Ha) Renewal of the already diverted area Proposed virgin area Total The total cost of the project is Rs crores including cost of NPV. 4. The Main species areaam, Asan, Bargad, bel, Bhelura, Bija, Chahar, Doka, Gamhar, Baria, Chatni, Dhowarah, Kada, Kusum, Sisam, Kendu, etc. Below 60 cm girth Above 60 cm girth : 13,187 no : 25,933 no 5. Compensatory Afforestation (CA) has not been proposed even for the new diversion. 6. No violation of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 has been reported. 7. The CCF (central) while forwarding the proposal has recommended the following: i. Karo and Koena rivers, which are almost perennial, are flowing near the proposed areas and are the lifeline of people and animals living in the nearby surroundings. Many nallahs from the proposed are falls into these river systems. During inspection it was seen that one nallah below their fine dump is being filled up due to the heavy erosion from fine dumps and it is a matter of concern. The steps taken by the UA to protect these nallahs appears to be inadequate. A proper plan, involving reputed Institutions may be prepared and implemented for the protection of the river system and to control pollution.

10 ii. iii. As a result of mining, existence of township, nearby habitation and human activities, the forest has been affected and greenery has been reduced. There should be concrete effort to green the area. The plan for plantation, control of soil erosion and habitat improvement of wildlife should be drafted by the user agency, in consultation with the State Forest Department and involving reputed organization. The mining is continuing since long, much before 1980, and as a result many of the areas might have been de-mineralized, and many may not be having sufficient minerals. The non-mineralized zones and permanent areas should be covered under plantation. Emphasis should be there for soil and moisture conservation and stabilization of existing dumps. The User Agency is proposing to break fresh forest area; so the regular CA component should be asked for. Again if CA condition will be imposed, then apart from the regular component for plantation, there should be components to involve village people. This kind of component should have activities involving villagers regularly, and these should not confine to plantation alone, rather there should be effort for capacity building of the stakeholders. These components are required in view of deep interior areas, naxal influence etc. ***