Environment minister clears five coal blocks in NO GO areas

Fri, July01, 2011

BS reported that Indian environment minister Mr Jairam Ramesh has cleared six coal blocks, including five in NO GO areas, in Orissa.

This was the second time in a week that the environment ministry has shown a softening in stance about coal blocks caught in green hurdles.

Mr Jairam Ramesh said that of the six blocks, three (Meenakshi-A, B and Dipside) were allotted to the 3,960 Mw/4000 Mw ultra mega power plant in Orissa. Two blocks, Manoharpur and Manoharpur Dipside, were awarded to Orissa Power Generation Corporation for its proposed 1,320 MW power plant in the Ib Valley, while one (Dulanga) was allotted to NTPC for its proposed 1600 MW Darlipalli power plant.

Mr Ramesh in a statement said that “Only one (Meenakshi-A) is presently in the ‘go’ area, the other five being in ‘no go’ areas...All six blocks will now be considered by the Forest Advisory Committee as ‘go’ areas.”

Mr Ramesh said it was decided to take a relook at the three projects together to get a broader picture of the biodiversity impact.

Last week the ministry had given its approval to open up Tara Parsa East and Kante Basan coal blocks in the Hasdeo-Arand forest region of Chhattisgarh.

Under the initial NO GO exercise, the environment ministry had barred mining in 203 coal blocks, with a production potential of over 660 million tonnes.(sourced from BS)