Chhattisgarh asks Centre to revoke coal mine clearance

The Chhattisgarh government has urged the Centre to cancel the forest clearance granted to a coal mine in the Hasdeo Arand in the wake of a people's protest that is “creating a law-and-order situation” in the region. “In view of the situation, the clearance granted under Forest Conservation Act (FCA) 1980 for change of land use of Para open cast coal mines in an area of 841.548 hectare be cancelled,” the state’s Forest and Climate Change Department Undersecretary K P Rajput said in his letter to the Director General (Forest) of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. The coal mine is allotted to Rajasthan State Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (RRVUNL) to meet its requirements for power generation. Alok Shukla of the Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan said the Congress government in the state, with its request to cancel forest clearance to Parsa, one of the three coal blocks of RRVNUL, was trying to put the ball in the Centre’s court without taking any steps on its own for cancellation of clearances granted. “The state government admits that there is a massive protest in Hasdeo Arand coal fields. The state has the power to cancel clearance on its own under the FCA 1980. If the state is serious, it must act accordingly,” he said. See also: Locals refuse to buy Adani's Gondalpura coal mining planImport of thermal coal to stop by 2025