The dense forests of Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh should be preserved and not destroyed by wanton mining. Development does not mean disaster

There is a saying: “When the last tree is cut, when the last river has been poisoned, when the last fish has been caught, then we will find out that we can’t eat money.”

When Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan went on an ‘indefinite’ fast in February last year, to protest the the Union Government’s “continued discrimination” against the State, one of his grudges was the delay in the allocation of a coal block to a joint venture of two companies that has invested thousands of crores of rupees in setting up industries in the backward region.

The Madhya Pradesh Government envisions Singrauli as the ‘Singapore of Central India’. At the same time the protection of the environment in the region too is essential. The race between power companies to set up coal-based thermal power projects should not harm ecology.

The Union Government has been accused of bending rules to suit the interest of companies, Essar Power and Hindalco Industries, so much so that, instead of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, which is the statutory authority to grant clearance, a Group of Ministers is considering whether to divert more than 1,000 hectares of dense forest to Mahan Coal ltd, a Rs 5,000 crore joint venture between Essar and aluminum manufacturing unit of Aditya Birla Group.

The GoM is headed by Union Minister for Finance Pranab Mukherjee and includes the Union Minister for Coal and the Union Minister for Power.

The Union Ministry of Coal had in 2006 allocated the coal block in Singrauli district to a 1,000 MW power plant proposed by a Essar and a 650 MW captive power plant of Hindalco. The coal block was given environmental clearance in December 2008. But before getting forest clearance, Mahan Coal block was declared a ‘no-go’ area, a zone where mining is prohibited because of dense forests.

The Environment Ministry’s contention is that Mahan Coal block is under the last remaining patch of very dense, unfragmented forest in Singrauli coalfield region, which spreads across Singrauli and Sidhi districts in Madhya Pradesh and Sonebhadra district of Uttar Pradesh. Some 15 mining projects by industry giants are already operating in the region.

Alarmingly, one-third of the forest land in the district has been diverted for mining. According to the MoEF note on Mahan, a range of factors go against the allocation of this area for coal mining, including its richness and biodiversity.

The MoEF had earlier imposed a temporary moratorium on proposed mining areas, based on surveys conducted by the Central Pollution Control Board and IIT-Delhi. Singrauli is the seventh-most critically polluted area with a score of 81.73 on the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index.

However, amidst the debate about ‘go’ and ‘no-go’ areas between the MoEF and the Ministry of Coal, large tracts of forestland have been given ‘go’ status in Singrauli for mining in a span of one year. Interestingly, this was preceded by lifting of the moratorium in less than six months.

In July 2011, just before passing the buck to the GoM, then Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest, Jairam Ramesh, said that he was “unable to agree” to consider forest clearance for Mahan Coal block. He submitted the proposal to the GoM with a recommendation that an alternative source of coal be provided for the power plants of the private firms.

The Ministry had earlier suggested Sohagpur Coal block in neighbouring Shahdol district, where 70 per cent of the reserve is in the ‘go’-area as an alternative source.

The Environment Ministry’s Forest Advisory Committee considered the proposal four times — between July 2008 and December 2009 — but found the issue too complex to reach a decision. The Ministry’s inability to take a final decision has been cited as the reason for the matter being transferred to the GoM, but correspondence between Mr Ramesh, the industries and PMO, shows that there was intense pressure on the Ministry not only from the industries, but also from the State Government, the Union Ministry of Coal and the PMO. The Singrauli coalfields are one of the nine in the country involved in the raging controversy over declaring areas as ‘go’ or ‘no-go’ for coal mining that had come to light during the tenure of Mr Jairam Ramesh.

Following the change of guard at the MoEF in 2011, the present Minister Jayanthi Natarajan is reported to have not favoured the ‘go’ and ‘no-go’ classification, taking the position that some forest areas must continue to remain ‘inviolate’ for all kinds of activities.

Of the 222 coal blocks in central and eastern coalfields in the country where mining approvals were withheld, the number of coals blocks on the “go/no-go” list came down to 153 in one year.

Why does Mahan need protectionIJ Unlike the other coal blocks in Singrauli and its adjacent coalfields, Mahan is nestled in undulating hills covered with thick tropical deciduous forests. Placed about 600 metres above sea level, more than 90 per cent of 1,000 hectare coal block allocated for mining is under the Mahan forest reserve.

It also falls in the catchment area of two perennial rivers, the Rampa and the Mahan, and the Rihand reservoir. Hundreds of streams and rivulets originating from the hills feed these water bodies. The reservoir is the lifeline for farmers as well as industries in the region. Mining the coal block could dry up the rivers as well as the reservoir.

Mahan has a very high stripping ratio of 6:1 — this means to excavate every tonne of coal, six tonnes of soil and waste has to be removed in this hilly region compared to other areas. Such high-scale overburden on the slopes will lead to massive siltation in the water bodies, choking their flow and imperiling water supplies. Incidentally, Rihand Dam’s reservoir faces mercury pollution as ascertained by CPCB.

A wildlife census in 2006 had found more than 600 wild animals, including leopards, wild boars, sloth bears, barking deer, chinkara, nilgai, python and various primates in the Mahan forest reserve, that act as a wildlife corridor and buffer zone, adjacent to Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserve. The coal block is in the middle of a two kilometre-wide corridor, which has fairly thick forest comprising sal, tendu, and mahua trees.

Meanwhile, in coal-rich Singrauli region, adivasis as well as other communities have been facing displacement for the past several years. Increasingly forest areas are going to big coal mining companies. Despite recommendations of the CPCB to control pollution, more and more forest areas are being opened up for open cast coal mines in the region.

With coal dust everywhere, the communities are living in the shadow of coal mine overburdens. The helpless tribal have given up their land for power that doesn’t reach them. With their traditional livelihood lost and deteriorating health, they are left out to an ear of dark uncertainty. This cannot be called development.

If Mahan block is cleared for mining it will set a dangerous precedent and signal a major setback for communities, civil society and citizens concerned about the environment and human rights. A moratorium is required on all new coal mining in forest areas until the Government sets criteria for ‘inviolate’ forests through a transparent consultative process with various stakeholders. The energy industry needs to come clean on sub-optimal mining practices and inefficiencies in power generation and distribution before they can ask for more forests for coal mining. The Government should also explore cleaner and more sustainable alternatives.

Close to 69,000 who dwell in the region people will be adversely impacted. The finding is based on the Environment Impact Assessment report prepared for Mahan Coal ltd. It further says that the buffer zone of the reserve houses 62 villages which depend on the forest for their livelihood — on the verge of facing permanent displacement. “The district administration is reportedly pressurising the villagers from coming out in public. There has been gross human rights violation in the region. The true cost of coal is just the economic cost, but environmental cost too”, says Priya Pillai, Policy Advisor, Greenpeace India.

Mahan is just an example of what is happening in central and eastern India. Whether future decisions land it in the inviolate or the ‘go’ zone is yet to be seen but in either case, will be important milestones in Singrauli’s roadmap.