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Is Coal India's green statement far from truth?
By siliconindia
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Tuesday, 16 November 2010, 14:18 IST |
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15,200 crore through its initial public offer (IPO) and in the run-up to this, the company had put inordinate emphasis on its green credentials. It's 20-crore pre-listing advertisement campaign was centered around the intensive afforestation activities undertaken by the firm at mining projects.
"Satellite surveillance being undertaken by us for our open-cast mines is a clear indication of our willingness to measure and inform the public about our environment mitigation measures," said CIL Chairman, Partha S Bhattacharyya, referring to his company's effort to determine the impact of its afforestion programmes.
Operating nearly 471 mines in 21 major coalfields, CIL claims to have planted 73 million trees over 32,300 hectares, spending over 165 crore since 1993-94. The total forested area degraded, according to CIL officials, is 12,800 hectares. Effectively, for every hectare degraded, CIL has afforested 2.52 hectares.
Despite these claims, a report by the Indian Institute of Forest Management earlier this year revealed that an examination of 12 coal mining projects - including five open-cast and seven underground sites - in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, only two had undertaken compensatory afforestation. The report also states that mostly teak was planted in these afforestation sites, while it is a known fact that teak is not an indigenous species and does not attract wildlife.
It should also be noted that CIL's mining activities have a direct impact on water, although company officials claim it is negligible. Reports suggest that a number of coalfields have acid mine drainage problems, along with high amounts of sulfate and heavy metals in mine water.
Concerns have also been raised over the potential threat posed by CIL's proposal to establish 20 coal washeries nationwide at an estimated cost of 3,000 crore, which can result additional pressure on water resources, but CIL officials argue that this is negligible, adding instead that open-cast mines are an advantage.
