Ecological safeguards for sustainable mining in NE

A set of recommendations made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Coal, Mines and Steel regarding forest clearance for coal mining projects has significant implications for the northeast region. Expediting coal mining projects in the fragile Northeast region without ensuring enough safeguards for mitigation of environmental impact could cause irreversible ecological loss. The rationale behind the Committee’s recommendation for streamlining administrative measures for expeditious green approval is that the contribution of coal for India’s energy security remains crucial, fuelling over 74% of the total power generation in the country. It notes that with the growing demand for energy driven by industrial expansion and infrastructure development, the need to enhance and accelerate domestic coal production has become more urgent than ever. The report of the parliamentary committee highlights that the Coal Ministry has set an ambitious target of 1.5 billion tonnes of coal production by financial year 2029-30 to ensure energy security and self-reliance. Additional coal projects are being identified under greenfield and brownfield projects as per the production programme, and advance actions are being taken for obtaining Environmental Clearance (EC) and Forest Clearance (FC) for such projects. The EC and FC are critical safeguards to ensure sustainable coal mining, and any relaxation in the norms for granting EC and FC in the name of ease of doing business runs the risk of precipitating the problem of carbon emission. The parliamentary panel recognises the significance of public hearings in the process of EC and FC, noting that it provides a platform for local communities to express their concerns for project proponents to ensure transparency and accountability. It, however, points out the challenge of repeated or lengthy public hearings delaying projects. To the contrary, there are allegations of public hearings not being inclusive enough to inform every single individual affected by a mining project and seeking consent for every project-affected individual, especially in the region, which cannot be ignored. A number of highway and railway projects fragmenting habitat for elephants and other wildlife, resulting in increased human-wildlife conflict in the Northeastern states, more particularly in Assam, has been a grim reminder against rushing through project clearance without considering all such dimensions. The lengthy process has led to reforms allowing up to 50% expansion in production capacity without the requirement of a fresh public hearing, observes the Committee, and it has recommended that the process can be further streamlined by allowing hybrid modes of public consultation with online hearings to reduce redundancy and procedural delays while ensuring genuine participation. Most mining projects in forest areas are located in remote and interior areas without internet connectivity with adequate speed to facilitate online and hybrid modes of public consultation. Implementation of the recommendation will require an area-specific strategy depending on the availability of internet connectivity with faster uploading and downloading speeds. Nevertheless, hybrid mode of consultation can facilitate greater participation in public hearings, as all participants will not be required to travel to the offline venue. Another key recommendation by the Committee is that, in complex cases involving inter-sectoral overlaps, a single harmonised coordination mechanism may lead to non-duplication, accountability and timely clearance and execution of projects. The panel notes that in addition to the integrated clearance system offered by the PARIVESH portal of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and the Single Window Clearance System (SWCS), several other permissions continue to be processed independently and separately, which include approvals from agencies such as the Directorate General of Mines Safety, the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA), and the Water Resources Department, which remain outside the ambit of the integrated digital framework. The Committee’s observation is that although SWCS offers a platform for submission and tracking of applications, its integration with external agencies beyond the MoEF&CC is still limited, and it is recommended that permissions and No Objection Certificates from other agencies that are currently being handled through separate, individual processes outside the integrated system of PARIVESH and SWCS may be brought under a single window. Care must be taken to ensure that environmental norms for these permissions remain comprehensive and strict even when they are bought under an integrated clearance system so that maximum environmental safety of coal mining operations can be ensured to prevent any accidental ecological damage. Devastating ecological damage caused by blowout incidents in Assam, including that of the Baghjan blowout, must keep reminding against relaxation of EC and FC norms when solutions to procedural delays are explored. While mineral exploration in the region is crucial for achieving the country’s goal of self-reliance in the energy sector, the fact that the forest and ecology of the region play a critical role in ensuring livelihood security and in offsetting climate change impact must be kept in mind before expediting environmental clearance. Expediting coal mining and other mineral operations in the region cannot be at the cost of the natural ecological balance of the Northeast.