8. Compensatory Afforestation CA has been proposed over 650 ha area with total

Transcription

1 Diversion of ha of forest land for Kusmunda and Laxman open cast mining of Coal in Korba District of Chhattisgarh in favour of South Eastern Coal Fields Limited (SECL). This relates to diversion of ha of forest land for Kusmunda and Laxman open cast mining of Coal in Korba district of Chhattisgarh in favour of South Eastern Coal Fields Limited (SECL). The State Government of Chhattisgarh vide their letter F-5-4/07/10-2 dated submitted the above proposal seeking prior of the Central Government under the Forest (Conservation) Act, Fact related to the proposal are given as under: FACT SHEET 1. Name of the Proposal Diversion of ha of forest land for Kusmunda and Laxman open cast mining of Coal in Korba District of Chhattisgarh in favour of South Eastern Coal Fields Limited (SECL). 2. Location i) State Chhattisgarh ii) District Korba 3. Particulars of Forests a) Name of Forest Division Katghora Forest Division b) Forest area involved c) Legal Status / Sy. No Reserved Forests & Chhote bade jhar ka jungle d) Map Enclosed (page - 9/c) 4. Topography of the area Flat terrain with minor undulations. 5. (i) Vegetation Area is devoid of vegetation as it is a part of already mined over area. (ii) No. of trees which will be - affected (iii) Density Density of nearby area is Whether area is significant from wildlife point of view 7. Details of Mining i. Total project area ha ii. Notified forest land - It is not a part of National Park / Wildlife Sanctuary. iii. Area of jungle / jhar ha iv. Tenancy land / non-forest ha v. Period of mining lease 61 years proposed vi. Total reserve million tonnes vii. Reserve in forest area - viii. Reserve in non-forest area - ix. Annual estimated production 6.0 million tonnes x. Nature of mining operation Open Cast Mining xi. Phased reclamation plan Old plan attached xii. Gradient of the mining area - xiii. No of labourers to be 2961 (p-26/c) employed 8. Compensatory Afforestation CA has been proposed over 650 ha area with total

2 (CA) 9. Catchment Area Treatment Not applicable 10. Rehabilitation of Oustees a) No of families involved 2460 b) Category of families SC/ST c) Details of rehabilitation - plan 11. Compliance of Scheduled Tribe and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 financial outlay of Rs.44590/- per ha (page 87 to 134/c). Not submitted 11. Reclamation of mined areas Old Reclamation plan is enclosed at page 136/c and undertaking is at page - 139/c. 12. Cost Benefit Ratio 1: Recommendation i. DFO ii. PCCF iii.state Government All have recommended the proposal. Page 19/c. Page 20/c. 14. District Profile (i) Total Geographical area 57,78,000 ha (ii) Total forest area Demarcated sq km Undemarcated sq km sq km (iii) Divisional forest area - (iv) Total area diverted since ha in 25 cases 1980 (v) Total area afforested since Forest land ha 1980 Other Remarks :- 1. The total lease of ha includes ha tenancy land, ha forest land and ha Govt. land. 2. The proposal is for diversion of ha of forest land for mining of coal at Kusmunda and Laxman OCP. 3. Details of forest land required for diversion are given below. S. No. Name of Village Area (in ha) Mined Virgin Total 1 Gevra Mangaon Durpa Barpali Dullapur

3 6 Barkuta Jarhajail Khamaria Grand Total The User Agency has proposed Compensatory Afforestation over double the area proposed for diversion i.e. over ha degraded area with total financial outlay of Rs.44590/- per ha (page-87 to 134/c). Out of total ha, ha is orange forest area while the remaining is degraded forest land. 5. The land suitability for CA certificate has been enclosed at p-133/c. 6. Proposed area is not having any monument of archaeological importance. 7. The User Agency has also submitted an undertaking to pay NPV at page-150/c. 8. The User Agency has also submitted the No objection certificate from the Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board for obtaining environment clearance from Government of India at page 72/c. The details of public hearing held is also enclosed at page 68/c. 9. The minimum land requirement certificate has been submitted by the User Agency at page 67/c. 10. The State Government has recommended the case for post facto sanction of already excavated area after imposing penal Compensatory afforestation against the User Agency SECL, Kusmunda for violation of FC Act, Compliance of Scheduled Tribe and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 has not been submitted. 12. DGPS map of the area proposed for diversion has not been submitted. Site Inspection Report 1. The site inspection has been done by the Regional Office, Bhopal. 2. Legal status of the forest land proposed for diversion is revenue forest land (chhote bade jhar ka jungle). 3. Itemwise break-up details of the forest land proposed for diversion: S.No. Discription of items Area in ha 1. Coal bearing area Non-Coal Colony area bearing area Bank, Post Office, Workshop, Power sub-station, Hospital, School, Community Center, Helipad, Market etc. Religion purposes Garden and Nursery Water Filter Plant 0.809

4 Play Ground Dumping area Plantation area I.B.P. Office and D.E.T.P Plant Sub Total Grand Total Total cost of the project is Rs crores. 5. It is informed by the SDO (Forest) that Hyaena, Jackal, Hare are commonly spotted in the proposed area. 6. It is reported in the proposal by the concerned local DFO (T) that the forest land proposed for diversion is already under the possession of the user agency and it is tree less. 7. This is the first proposal of the forest land falling in the Kusmunda Area including both mines in the Area i.e. Kusmunda Opencast mine project and Laxman Opencast Mine Project. 8. Compensatory Afforestation is proposed on forest land in the double extent (i.e. 2 x ha = 650 ha.) at the total cost of Rs.2.90 crores. Out of this 250 ha is in orange forest area and remaining on notified forest land (RF/PF). This is located on 9 places. The maps and detailed compensatory afforestation schemes with estimates are given in the proposal. The concerned local DFO(T) has certified that the lands selected are suitable for afforestation. 9. The proposal involves violation of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 for continuing the mining operations without obtaining approval under Forest (Conservation) Act. The concerned local DFO(T) has reported three officers of the SECL namely Shri M.K. Thapar, SECL, Bilaspur; Shri A.K. Dubey, CGM, Kusmunda Area and Shri Gopal Singh, Dy. GM, Kusmunda Area. 10. The State Government has recommended the imposition of penal afforestation for violation of Forest (Consevation) Act, About 2460 families including approximately 1355 families of SC/ST are expected to be displaced due to the project. The rehabilitation process is going on. There is no rehabilitation on the proposed forest land. 12. Reclamation plan given at page 115 of the proposal seems to be a xerox copy of a very old mining plan. An up-to-date reclamation plan with year-wise targets of excavation, backfilling, leveling and afforestation with financial estimates may be prepared so that reclamation could proceed timely and systematically. 13. Cost benefit ratio has been worked out as 1: The Regional Chief Conservator Forests (Central) in his recommendation has stated that ha of non coal bearing area is utilized for plantation purposes but during site

5 inspection the same has been found barren due to illegal felling and a condition may be imposed in the approval order that a user agency shall plant protect and regenerate this area at its own cost. Consideration of the proposal by the FAC 1. The proposal has already been considered by the FAC in its meeting held on 17 th October, 2007 and the recommendation of the FAC are given as under: The Committee considered the proposal and noted that the above proposal is for ex-post facto sanction of already excavated area after imposing penal Compensatory afforestation against the M/s SECL, Kusmunda for violation of FC Act, After examining the proposal, the Committee desired that that the State Govt. may direct the representatives of M/s SECL, Kusmunda to make a presentation before it during its next meeting highlighting the details of the all the mining activities taken up by the User Agency since the beginning of the project. It also recommended that the ongoing mining activities should stop immediately, if not already stopped. 2. The above recommendation of the FAC were communicated to the State Government vide this Ministry s letter dated Subsequently, the proposal was again considered by the FAC in its meeting held on 23 rd January, 2008 and the Committee noted as under: The Committee considered the proposal and noted that the proposal was placed before the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) on wherein it was noted that the proposal was for ex-post facto sanction of already excavated area and desired a presentation by M/s SECL highlighting the details of the all the mining activities taken up since the beginning of the project. The Committee listened to the submission made by the representatives of M/s SECL and after detailed discussion desired that the user agency should first submit the action taken report against those identified officials found responsible for continuing the mining operations without obtaining approval under Forest (Conservation) Act, The above recommendation of the FAC were communicated to the State Government vide this Ministry s letter dated (Pg 178/c). The project proponent vide their letter dated wherein adverting to letter dated of the CCF(LM), Government of Chhattisgarh, requested the Ministry to take further necessary action on the proposal. 4. However, examination of the information/documents submitted by the State Government revealed that action taken report as sought by the Ministry vide its letter dated has not been submitted by the State Government. Accordingly, this Ministry vide its letter dated again requested the State Government to submit the same to this Ministry for further necessary action in the matter. 5. Now the Forest Department, State Government of Chhattisgarh vide their letter no. 5-4/2007/10-2 dated submitted the information and the same is reproduced as under:

6 i. The State Government of Chhattisgarh, initially reported the names of three officers of the SECL namely Shri M.K. Thapar, CMD, SECL, Bilaspur; Shri A.K. Dubey, CGM, Kusmunda Area and Shri Gopal Singh, Dy. GM, Kusmunda Area. The State Government has further reported that details of the names of the officers who were holding the office earlier will be provided separately (195/c). In pursuance to the said statement of the State Government has also forwarded a list of officers holding the charge on , in additions to list which was communicated by the State Government earlier. The list of officers includes Shri S. Lahidi, GM, SECL, Shri Roop Singh DGM, SECL, Shri U. Kumar, CMD, SECL, Shri H. K. Jha, GM, SECL and Shri L. M. Tewari, DGM and Shri P. S. Sharma, DGM, SECL. ii. With regards to credible action taken against the above mentioned officers, the State Government has further reported that the project proponent vide their letter dated has informed that area proposed for diversion i.e ha was acquired under the CBA (A&D) Act, 1957 on A copy of the said notification is available at Pg /c. iii. The State Government has further reported that the then Government of Madhya Pradesh vide their letter dated has issued directions stating that in the matters related to the revenue forests land, provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 are not applicable (Pg 231/c). iv. In view of the above facts, the State Government has further indicated that as per the documents indicated above, the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 were not applicable in the area. The State Government has further advocated that judgment of Hon ble Supreme Court of India in the matter of T. N. Godavaraman Thirumalpad vs. Union of India was enacted on and hence the non of the officers of the SECL is responsible for violation as the alleged activities had taken place before v. The State Government has further justified their submission referring to the MoEF&CC s Guidelines dated wherein inter-alia it is stated that to have clarity on need of obtaining FC for forest areas acquired under the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957 which were lawfully broken prior to Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 came into force, CIL through concerned State Governments will submit details of such areas to this Ministry. Proposal to be received from the State Government will contain credible evidence to prove that such area were acquired under the CBA, Act which were lawfully broken prior to the day the Supreme Court vide their order dated brought such forests within the purview of the FC Act, In view of the above, justification and information submitted by the State Government, the proposal is submitted for soliciting the further directions to place the same before the FAC in its forthcoming meeting to be held on Fact sheet of the proposal as considered by the FAC at earlier occasion is also enclosed. ****