Environment Ministry To Decide On Mahan Coal Block Soon
Author:
First published in Sanctuary Asia,
Vol. 31
No. 7,
July 2011
Asked whether a decision could be expected tomorrow, the source said, "Possibly, I am not sure". The block, located in Singrauli district, was jointly allocated to Essar and Hindalco-- Aditya Birla Group's flagship company, for their thermal power plant.
If the block is cleared, it will provide coal to Essar Power's 1,000-MW plant and Hindalco's 750-MW facility in Madhya Pradesh. Environment Ministry had recently granted stage-I approval for opening of three stalled coal-blocks in the fringe of the Hasdeo-Arand region in Chattisgarh.
Meanwhile, Greenpeace has said it would sent a "high level fact finding mission" to Singrauli coalfields to "understand the impact coal mining has had on people, livelihoods and the ecology." Read the full report here.
Source: Moneycontrol.com.
