There is a robust environmental legislation in place which governs mining operation and obtaining clearance to Environmental Management Plans is mandatory before taking up mining operation. This ensures sustainability in the long run.   Coal India Limited (CIL) is following sustainable mining practices in its mines/projects of all subsidiary companies including Jharkhand. Further, Corporate Environmental policy is being followed in all subsidiary companies of CIL including Subsidiaries located in  Jharkhand. The various sub-systems of mining activities are in consonance with this policy to obviate environmental degradation due to mining operation and are as under:

1)                  Coal, being a non-renewal energy source, extraction is planned prudently to meet national requirement. The projects are designed on the principle of Sustainable Development with due regard to safety, conservation and quality in eco-friendly manner at the planning stage itself.

2)                  Latest mining equipment with higher & optimum capacity and latest mining technologies are being adopted.

3)                  EIA and EMP for all mines and other industrial units are formulated to mitigate pollution  on the sustainable mining principles as per directives MoEF .

4)                  Detailed Mine Closure Plans are being prepared for all existing operating mines/new projects  as per the MOC (Ministry of Coal) guidelines for sustainable mining .Reclamation of mined out areas are being  done as per the land-end-use-plan as stipulated in the approved Environment Management Plan and Mine Closure Plan by technical reclamation and biological reclamation. External dumps are also biologically reclaimed.

5)                  Extensive plantation is being carried out on abandoned / degraded land / mined out areas. The afforestation is being preferably done by the local species which existed before mining. 

            As reported by CIL, illegal mining of coal is carried out stealthily and clandestinely. As such, it is not possible to specify the exact quantum of coal stolen and losses incurred on account of illegal mining of coal.

However, as per raids conducted by security personnel as well as joint raids with the law and order authorities of the concerned State Government, the quantity of coal recovered and its approximate value during the last three years and the current year are as under:

ILLEGAL MINING OF COAL SUBSIDIARYWISE AND STATE-WISE

             Law & Order is a matter of State Government, hence primarily; it is the responsibility of the State/District administration to take necessary deterrent action to stop/curb illegal mining. However, the steps taken by coal companies to prevent illegal mining are as under:

1. Rat holes created by illegal mining are being dozed off and filled up with stone and debris wherever possible.

      ii.            Concrete walls have been erected on the mouth of the abandoned mines to prevent access and illegal activities in these areas.

    iii.            Regular raids/checks being conducted by security personnel and static security pickets including armed guards during the night hours are being deployed at pithead depots.

    iv.            Surprise raids/checks being conducted jointly by security personnel and law and order authorities of the concerned State Government.

      v.            Fencing is being constructed at the various illegal mining sites along with displaying of signboards mentioning “Dangerous and Prohibited Place.”

6. Dumping of the overburden is being done on the outcrop zones, which are not required to be mined.
7. Collection of intelligence reports about illegal coal depots and illegal movement of coal and informing district authorities of the same for taking preventive action.
8. Installation of check-posts at vulnerable points to check transport documents;

    ix.            Training of existing security personnel, refresher training of CISF personnel and basic training of new recruits in security discipline pfor strengthening the security setup;

      x.            The coal companies maintain close liaison with the State authorities.

    xi.            Committee/task force has been constituted at different level (block level, sub-divisional level, district level, state level) at some subsidiaries of CIL to monitor different aspects of illegal mining.

  xii.            In order to check the menace of illegal mining of coal the Central Government has constituted a committee consisting of MOS (Coal) and others to look into the various aspects of illegal mining of coal.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Coal, Shri Pratik Prakashbapu Patil in a written reply in Lok sabha today.

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SAMIR/NCJ/RV