FAC recommends in-principle nod to forest land diversion for mining projects

NEw new delhi: The timber consultive citizens committee (FAC) of the unification environment ministry has recommended in-principle approval for the diversion of forest land for several major mining and infrastructure projects, including over 1,000 hectares for a coal block and around 470 hectares for a coal mine, both in Madhya Pradesh, and has allowed round-the-clock exploratory drilling in Assam.The committee deferred its decision on forest diversion for a 680 MW hydroelectric project in Arunachal Pradesh.According to the minutes of the FAC meeting held on February 27, seen by HT, the committee recommended in-principle approval for the diversion of 469.612 hectares of reserve forest for the proposed underground Gondbahera Ujheni East coal mine in favour of M/s Mahan Energen Limited in Singrauli district, Madhya Pradesh.The proposed mine is expected to cause tensile strain — the horizontal stretching of the ground surface as underground workings cause the overlying earth to shift — of 2.98 mm/m, meaning a one-metre stretch of surface ground would deform by nearly three millimetres. “Accordingly, appropriate mitigation measures shall be implemented by the state government, at the cost of the user agency, to reduce tensile strain on the surface,” the FAC recommended.If subsidence exceeds the predicted level, the user agency will be required to pay the net present value — a monetary quantification of the ecological services provided by the diverted forest area — and carry out compensatory afforestation under ministry guidelines. “In the event of any subsidence within the forest area, prompt safety measures shall be implemented by the user agency in coordination with the state forest department,” it added.The FAC also granted in-principle approval for the diversion of 1,063.1142 hectares of forest land out of a total 1,200-hectare lease area for the proposed Marwatola-VII coal block — to be operated partly as an open-cast and partly as an underground mine by M/s Rama Cement Industries Private Limited in the Ghanghuti forest range, Madhya Pradesh.The boundary of the proposed area abuts the Bandhavgarh-Achanakmar wildlife corridor, which serves as habitat for tigers, leopards, sloth bears, and cheetal. The underground portion of the mine is expected to cause tensile strain of 4.96 mm/m — nearly five millimetres of surface deformation per metre. The committee said appropriate mitigation measures shall be implemented by the state government.Kapil Dhagat, coal mining expert, said: “In most underground mines, there is some subsidence unless the mine is very deep and the seam thickness is not that much. If you take out something from underneath the soil/rocks, the rock mass will most often subside slightly impacting the surface. There are also methods to ensure that surface does not subside during extraction/depillaring operations like the use of non-effective width method. It’s a method where you do not excavate beyond a certain limit. There are other ways to minimise or eliminate the impact of subsidence using stowing material to fill the voids after extracting the mineral belowground.”On the Assam drilling approvals, the FAC accepted a request by the state government, submitted on behalf of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), for amendments to conditions attached to earlier forest clearances for exploratory oil drilling. The request cited the need for continuous drilling — day and night — for the stability of drilled holes, safety of personnel, material and environment, and for optimum resource utilisation and efficiency. The committee approved continuous drilling on the condition that the user agency take all possible measures to minimise noise and that no labour camp be established in the surrounding forest area; any camps required would be confined to the diverted forest land.The FAC also granted in-principle approval for the diversion of 135.980 hectares of forest land for the proposed Kendudihi North Iron Ore Block, to be operated by M/s Rungta Mines Ltd under the Keonjhar forest division in Odisha, and approved the diversion of 27.887 hectares for the proposed Shree Jagannath International Airport in Puri.The committee deferred its decision on the diversion of 261.53 hectares of unclassed forest land for the Attunli Hydro Electric Project (680 MW) on the Talo river in Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh, seeking a copy of the central electricity authority’s approval of the detailed project report, along with an undertaking to adhere to its design and safety provisions and comply with norms prescribed by the National Dam Safety Authority.An Independent Expert Scientific Committee note on unconventional gas development and large coal mining has observed that any form of underground coal extraction results in some degree of deformation of the overlying strata — described as mining-induced subsidence — which can range from a few millimetres over first workings extraction to significantly higher levels.