Centre eases clearance process for underground coal mining

At a time when India has pledged to shift to non-fossil fuels on international forums, it has eased the process for coal mining companies to obtain environmental clearance.

The Union Environment Ministry, in an official memorandum, said all underground coal mining projects would be accorded environmental clearance on an ‘out-of-turn’ basis. It has also directed its officials to expeditiously issue clearances to all projects or activities regarding underground coal mining.

“The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) is now in receipt of representation from stakeholders to bring out policy initiatives to promote underground coal mining projects. The ministry hereby directs that all projects and/or activities regarding underground coal mining shall be considered on an ‘out-of-turn’ basis and clearances issued expeditiously,” the memorandum said.

The ministry has clarified that the expeditious processing of proposals for environmental clearance would be limited to underground coal mining projects and won’t apply to projects involving combination of underground coal mining with open cast coal mining. However, the experts assert that the move is still damaging.

Former Indian Forest Service officer BK Singh said past experiences suggest that fire and flooding pose grave challenges to the workers. Citing the Jharia coal mines near Asansol as an example, he said that sometimes underground mines sink and forests over it dry up as a result.

The Ministry of Coal has envisaged to enhance underground coal production from the current level of 34.33 million tonnes in FY 2023-24 to 100 million tonnes by FY 2030. India’s coal demand is also projected to increase significantly in the coming years with a potential peak between 2030 and 2035.

According to the government officials, 32 underground mines that were closed earlier would also be revived to meet the rising coal demand.

India