Sensing the magnitude of the ecological fallout, the governor's advisory council yesterday decided to forward the forest diversion proposal of Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL) directly to the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) without making any recommendations of its own.Â
The advisory council acted on a proposal of the state environment and forests department which was reluctant to make a recommendation for non-forest (mining) activity in the reserved forest area that also happens to be an important elephant corridor.
Now the Union ministry, at present headed by Jairam Ramesh, would have to decide on the state's proposal with regard to JSPL, owned by Congress MP from Kurukshetra Naveen Jindal.
JSPL's case is only the tip of the iceberg as prospective investors like ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel, JSW Steel Jharkhand Limited, Essar Steels Jharkhand Limited and others are all awaiting the state's nod for their individual mining/prospecting proposals. Read the full report here.
Source: Amit Gupta, The Telegraph, Kolkata
