Green nod to SCCL mine put off

Non-compliances with closure plan for the present mine, questions of safety associated to proposed coal washery and wish of data on a number of different elements have made an professional committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests defer the environmental clearance proposal for the growth of Jalagam Vengal Rao opencast mine of Singareni Collieries Company Ltd.t

At its assembly held in the course of the fourth week of March, the appraisal panel of consultants famous that the proposed venture was growth of amalgamation of JVR-I and II of SCCL in 1,953 hectares at Kommepalli in Khammam district because the coal reserve of JVR-I is probably going to get exhausted by the tip of the yr. The the mine void of JVR-I’d be used for dumping the overburden materials.

According to firm officers, the entire geological reserves reported within the mine space are 309.55 million tonnes with 291.97 million tonnes of extractable reserves. The steadiness extractable reserves as on March 31 final yr have been estimated at 230.63 million tonnes with the mine life span of 26 years from 2020-21.

The committee noticed that floor water high quality of close by water tank was poor and exceeding the norms. It was famous that disposal of washery rejects from the proposed new coal washery in OB dump could have questions of safety and may lead to wastage of extracted assets.

It was identified that the licensed compliance report of JVR-II has varied non-compliances primarily based on the location go to carried out in September 2019. Besides, the venture proponent (SCCL) didn’t submit the licensed compliance report of EC of JVR-I and the modification of EC situations of JVR-II relating to transportation by street until December 2021 was nonetheless below the consideration within the Ministry.

The professional committee additional noticed that there have been varied points which require additional deliberations and appropriate response.

While deferring the proposal for recommending EC, the MoEF committee listed out gaps in data on the previous manufacturing particulars of each the mines since their inception, sought recent compliance report and action-taken report on ECs for JVR-I and II.

Details of management blasting with satisfactory safeguards for close by folks, conducting noise and vibration monitoring in close by villages throughout day and evening for one month and correct response of native folks’s demand on air pollution mitigation measures raised in the course of the public listening to have been sought by the professional panel.

The panel really helpful formation of a sub-committee to conduct website go to to analyse the prevailing situation and implementation of measures. Meanwhile, the professional panel has issued phrases of reference for appraisal of the proposal for P.V. Narasimha Rao opencast mine in 1,071 hectares close to Venkatapur in Mulugu district.