In an attempt to pacify the ongoing outrage against coal mining in the Dehing Patkai forest in Assam, Minister of State Parimal Suklabaidya said Wednesday that the government will not allow open-cast mining by destroying trees. Visiting the Saleki Proposed Reserve Forest, where PSU Major Coal India Limited (CIL) carried out “illegal mining” for 16 years from 2003, Suklabaidya said that the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary is far from the area under dispute.
“We will not allow opencast mining by destroying a forest. We will not even think about it. Our history and tradition are involved with Patkai. Swargadeu Sukapha (the first Ahom king) entered Assam through this Patkai valley and ruled Assam. Our government does not want this tradition to be destroyed,” he added.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal ordered Suklabaidya, the Minister of Forestry, to visit Saleki, part of the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve, to conduct a field survey in the context of protests against coal mining in the forest.
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 periphery of the districts of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia.
Along with Suklabaidya, officials from the CIL, the Forest Department and the District Administration visited the site on Wednesday and carried out a detailed study of CIL ‘s coal mining activities.
The Center granted in-principle (Stage-I) clearance to CIL for mining on 57.20 hectares inside Dehing Patkai forest in December 2019, subject to 28 conditions, including payment of fine and action against officers responsible for violating the Forest Conservation Act.
Opposition parties and environmentalists opposed coal mining in Dehing Patkai, saying it would harm the ecological balance of the forest.
However, the Minister of Forestry said, “The Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary is a long way from this place where I am standing now … I have instructed officials to send a detailed report within 2-3 days with proper mapping of the area.
“It will cover biodiversity such as which are the tree species present in the area compared to other mining places. After a detailed report is received, we will inform the public accordingly,” he said.
Suklabaidya said that mining had been going on around 58 hectares since 2003 and had been halted in 2019, while the government had seized nearly 5,000 metric tons of coal at various locations.
“After our government came in, we have tried to work in an eco-friendly manner. We set a target to plant 10 crore trees and have already planted more than six crore. We hope to touch seven crore this year. Our green coverage increased by 222 sq km last year. We do not want to harm our trees and wild animals,” he added.
Earlier this month, North Eastern Coalfields, a CIL unit, had accepted that mining had been taking place in Dehing Patkai since 2003 and claimed that it had applied for the renewal of its lease in 2003, when the agreement had expired, but the Assam government had not acted on it for a long time.
However, a senior official of the Assam Forest Department reported that CIL had only sought clearance in 2012, but was subsequently refused. In 2019, it again applied for a clearing of 98,59 hectares, out of which CIL carried out mining activities on 73 hectares.
At its last meeting in April 2020, the Standing Committee of the National Wildlife Board (NBWL) of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change of the Union recommended the proposal of the CIL to legalize mining for approval, provided that the 28 conditions were met.
Last month, the Assam Forest Department imposed a penalty of Rs 43.25 crore on CIL for carrying out illegal logging in the forest, known as the Amazon of the East, for 16 years.
Besides the Congress, the All Assam Student Union, Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti and environmentalists, many people in the social media are protesting against coal mining in the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve and warning of strong protests if allowed.
The online petition in this regard has already attracted more than 76,000 signatures.
