Natarajan To Keep Thick Forests Out Of Bounds For Coal Mining
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First published in Sanctuary Asia,
Vol. 31
No. 9,
September 2011
The ministry's proposal to save these “inviolate" areas, if approved, would still allow it to save a sizeable chunk of forest cover. Extremely dense forest areas cover 10 per cent of India's coal bearing area of 17,300 square kilometres as against an overall 17.5 per cent area being impacted by no-go.
Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan had proposed keeping certain areas out of bounds for mining activities during Tuesday's meeting of a 12-member Group of Ministers (GoM).
Natarajan is understood to have said during the meeting that no mining should be allowed in thick forests.
Notably, in another GoM meeting last month, Natarajan had said No-Go policy has no legal basis and should not be considered for future project approvals. Read the full report here.
Source: Sudheer Pal Singh & Piyali Mandal, Business Standard, New Delhi.
