Spelling out the broad parameters for opening coal mines in future,Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday said about 35 per cent of the total coal fields in the country lay in heavily forested or ecologically fragile areas and should be barred from mining. Ramesh said his ministry had conducted a study of the coal fields using satellite pictures. Based on this study,we have identified the go zones and no-go zones, he told reporters,referring to areas where permissions for mining can be granted or cannot be given. About 35 per cent of the total area is in no-go zone. Almost all coal fields of Chhattisgarh are no-go zones, he said. Ramesh said coal fields in the go zones should prima facie be open for mining operations,though an environmental impact assessment would still be necessary. But the no-go zones should be made strictly out of bounds for mining projects. I have suggested that every effort must be made for optimum utilisation of coal mines in the go zones, he said. Rameshs strict adherence to environmental norms has upset quite a few of his ministerial colleagues some of whom have complained of delay in infrastructural projects because of hurdles posed by the Environment Ministry. Ramesh,however,said his ministry was not against development but was only trying to strike the right balance between development and ecology.
