Orissa forest dept recommends closure of nine mines

The nine mines should have been closed in May 2011,but the state mining and forest department officials found them operating without any impunity.

As the CBI continues to probe into the captive coal block allotment scam,Orissa forest department has recommended that nine coal mines of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited be closed for operating without the approval under the Forest Conservation Act. The nine mines should have been closed in May 2011,but the state mining and forest department officials found them operating without any impunity.

CBI is investigating the selection process for captive coal mines allocated between 2005 and 2009 following a reference from the Central Vigilance Commission. The agency has sent two teams to Jharkhand and Orissa.

Incidentally,the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee which probed into the allegation of forest law violations in the multi-crore mining scam in Orissa,had said in its April 2010 report that mining activities were going on in a large number of mines in Orissa without the requisite approvals under the Forest (Conservation) Act,1980,Environmental Clearances,and the Air and Water Acts.

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The committee had noted that nine coal mines belonging to the Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd,a subsidiary of the Coal India Ltd (CIL),were operating without obtaining approval under the Forest Conservation Act. It had recommended that provisions of the Forest Conservation Act are equally applicable to such forest areas and are required to be complied with.

The nine mines are Hingir-Rampur Colliery,Gand-ghora Colliery,NW Block Gandghora Colliery,Orient (III) Colliery,New Gand-ghora Colliery,Orient Colliery Underground,Ib block 5th Colliery,Ib River Colliery and Ib Property Colliery.

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