Coal blocks: Ramesh says border line cases must be cleared
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh today said it was a "difficult" decision to approve the coal blocks in Chhattisgarh after overruling the Forest Advisory Committee but stressed that "border line" case have to be cleared if power capacity addition target has to be met.
June 24, 2011 / 21:41 IST
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh today said it was a "difficult" decision to approve the coal blocks in Chhattisgarh after overruling the Forest Advisory Committee but stressed that "border line" case have to be cleared if power capacity addition target has to be met.
"Since the blocks are in fringe area, not in the core of Hardev-Arnad forest region, we gave approval. It was a difficult decision but at the same time, it is necessary to maintain balance between environment and development," the minister said."Total capacity addition of power in 11th five year plan is set at 52,000 MW which was 21,000 in 10th plan. We have to sustain progress so such border line cases should be given approval," Ramesh said.Out of three blocks Parsa East, Kante Basan and Tara in the Hasdeo-Arand forest region, the first two are allotted for Rajasthan and third is for Chhattisgarh."Approval for three coal-blocks was made on six major grounds last evening. Two state governments were involved in this and they have been following up the matter because their power generation projects are linked with the blocks," Ramesh told reporters here."Such decisions might prove harmful in future but I believe that it will not be the case and we will be able to manage situation by forest and wild life management and other efforts," Ramesh said.He made it clear that no no application related with core area of the Hardev-Arnad forest region will be entertained."It is a condition that the coal will be used only for super critical units and the approval is for first phase for 15 years and approval for next phase will depend upon the state governments'' performance on reforestation and other factors," he said. Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
