Put ArcelorMittal mine proposal on hold: MoEF panel

“After detailed appraisal of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and the Environment Management Plan (EMP),the committee reiterated that mining projects falling in the core zone of Singbhum Elephant Reserve are being kept in abeyance,as the matter was being discussed in the ministry and further consideration will have to await a decision in this regard by MoEF,” according to the minutes of the EAC meeting.

The committee has also asked global steel tycoon L N Mittal’s company to obtain further endorsement from the Jharkhand Pollution Control Board regarding air and dust pollution in the severely polluted area to address the Board’s apprehension on contamination of the Karo river,“It was therefore,decided that further consideration of the proposal may be deferred and it may be kept in abeyance till both issues are resolved,” the EAC concluded.

The recommendation by the EAC was bound to trigger further problems for ArcelorMittal,which has understandably made up its mind to re-locate its project from Torpa-Kamdara spanning Khunti and Gumla district to near Petarwar in Bokaro district following an uphill crisis in acquiring land for the project. In case of Sail’s Chiria mines,the MoEF has already raised a red flag citing the existence of an elephant reserve in West Singbhum and was yet to make up its mind on taking a policy decision on it.

But the maharatna company desperately needs the mines because of its expansion plans worth Rs 11,000 crore for its existing Bokaro plant and also a proposed greenfield unit adjacent to it. After intense battle of nerves,the PSU got the title deed for Chiria,but practical ownership over the mines was still elusive. Steel minister Virbhadra Singh has expressed his ministry’s resentment on the issue to environment minister Jairam Ramesh,but any resolution of the vexed matter remains bleak.