The National Wildlife Board (NBWL) has ordered Coal India Ltd. (CIL) to stop all mining activities within the Dehing Patkai forest in Assam, as the PSU Major has failed to submit any mine recovery plan. Considering the matter at its 58th meeting earlier this month, the Standing Committee of the NBWL under the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change of the Union accepted the application by CIL to Saleki for the proposed reserve forest, which is part of the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve.
At a meeting in April, the NBWL approved the CIL ‘s plan to legalize illicit mining, which the company made available in the forest from 2003 to 2019, for approval provided that it meets 28 requirements.
As part of the recommendation, CIL was required to submit a rectified site-specific mine recovery plan in consultation with the Assam Forest Department and a feasibility report on unbroken underground mining along with a compliance report on the fulfillment of all other conditions.
“The member secretary also stated that no such reports and reclamation plan for the already broken up area have been received from the project proponent or state government,” said the minutes of the 58th meeting, which were recently uploaded on the official website.
The Standing Committee, which met on 3 July at a videoconference chaired by the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change of the Union, Prakash Javadekar, also noted that the entire matter is a sub-judgment of the Supreme Court and the High Court of Gauhati.
“After discussion, the Standing Committee recommended that the mining activity should be immediately stopped and decided to defer matters till further discussions with Coal India Limited,” the NBWL stated.
At present, no mining operation is being carried out by the CIL within the Dehing Patkai forest known as the Amazon of the East.
The Standing Committee also noted that the unmined or unbroken area is far greater than what CIL had initially claimed in its application for approval for a total area of 98,58 hectares. The company said 57.2 hectares were mined and 41.39 hectares were unbroken.
“The State Chief Wildlife Warden stated that out of 41.39 hectares unbroken area, 16 hectares has already been broken by Coal India Limited leaving only 25 hectares unbroken area,” the document of the 58th Meeting said.
Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary has a surface area of 111,42 km2, while the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve, with a surface area of 937 km2, surrounds the Sanctuary on its outskirts of the districts of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal declared on 6 July that the state government would upgrade the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary to a National Park, following which environmentalists demanded that the area be expanded to at least 500 sq km.
Though it had been mining since 2003, CIL had only obtained clearance in 2012, but was subsequently denied. In 2019, it again applied for a clearing of 98,59 hectares, out of which CIL carried out mining operations in approximately 73 hectares.
Earlier in May, North Eastern Coalfields, a CIL company, had admitted that mining had been going on since 2003 and said that it had applied for the renewal of its lease in 2003, but the Assam government had not acted on it for a long time.
The Center issued Stage-I clearance to the PSU Major for a total of 57.20 hectares in December 2019, subject to 28 conditions, including fines and sanctions against responsible officers in violation of the Forest Conservation Act.
Accordingly, in May, the Assam Forest Department levied a penalty of Rs 43.24 crore on CIL for carrying out illegal mining activities within the forest for 16 years since 2003.
On 4 June, the Gauhati High Court issued notices to the government, state, CIL and other stakeholders after filing a suo motu case against coal mining in Dehing Patkai, the largest rainforest in the Northeast.
Three more PILs were placed before the High Court by attorneys, a mountaineer and a Guwahati, who had agreed on 1 September for the next hearing of the case.
On 18 July, the Assam Government ordered an inquiry by retired High Court justice Brajendra Prasad Kataki of allegations of coal mining in the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary since 2003.
