PSUS running captive coal blocks can now use degraded forests
State-owned companies that operate captive coal mines will now be allowed compensatory afforestation activities on degraded forests instead of non-forest land, the environment ministry has said.
Compensatory afforestation over degraded forests that is double in extent instead of the equivalent of non-forest land may be considered for captive coal blocks of state public sector units on a caseby-case basis, the ministry’s forest conservation division said in a letter to all states and Union territories on April 11. The forest conservation rules of 2003 earlier said such plantations should be raised on non-forest land to compensate for loss of forests due to mining.
However, such cases will be considered only if the chief secretary of a state certifies that no nonforest land is available for compensatory afforestation and no other forest land such as revenue lands not under the administrative control of the state government is available. “This consideration is being made for new captive coal blocks. Degraded forest lands are those with canopy densities of less than 0.4. A good forest has a canopy density of 0.7 or more,” an environment ministry official said, requesting anonymity.
“The plantations in degraded forests will help improve the density of degraded forests. Forest departments anyway do this work of improving degraded forests,” the official added. “But now captive coal blocks have cited the problem of shortage of land for compensatory afforestation, so this has been considered.”
Compensatory afforestation is a crucial condition for the central government’s approval to divert forest land for non-forest purposes. “Where non-forest land is available but lesser in the extent to the forest area being diverted, CA (compensatory afforestation) could be carried out over degraded forest twice in the extent of the area being diverted or the difference between the forest land being diverted and the available non-forest land, as the case may be,” according to the Handbook of Forest Conservation Rules 2003, Guidelines and Clarifications.
Meanwhile, the coal ministry last week reviewed the status of allottees of captive coal mines that have either started production or are likely to do so in the current financial year. “It was appreciated that coal production from captive coal blocks during 2021-22 was 85 MT, an increase of around 35% over 63 MT produced during 2020-21...,” the ministry said.