January 08, 2025 08:02 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Sheesh Mahal row: AAP leaders who were denied entry into CM's residence turn towards PM's house | Anna University sexual assault accused is a DMK supporter, not member: MK Stalin | Ajit Doval, Raja Dato discuss bilateral cooperation during India-Malaysia Security Dialogue | US President-elect Donald Trump threatens to use economic force to make Canada 51st US State, Justin Trudeau retorts sharply | Elon Musk raises concern on 'world population decline' including that of India, China | Indian-origin Anita Ananda might replace Justin Trudeau as Canadian PM | 'I won't bite': Kamala Harris tells Senator's husband as he refuses to shake hands with her | Centre announces memorial for Pranab Mukherjee, his daughter thanks PM Modi for 'gracious gesture' | Delhi assembly elections on Feb 5, results on Feb 8 | Allu Arjun visits boy injured during Pushpa 2 stampede in Hyderabad

Coal endangers India's fresh water sources: Greenpeace India

| | May 06, 2016, at 05:04 am
#India government # Coal dangers # fresh water sources # Greenpeace India
New Delhi, May 5 (IBNS) Even as the country reels under severe drought, information secured by Greenpeace suggests that India's "coal-hungry government" is willing to overlook policy meant to protect the country’s pristine forests, wildlife and the fresh-water sources.
The information accessed by Greenpeace India under the  Right to Information (RTI) from the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC)  reveals that as many as 417 out of 825 current and future coal blocks should be categorised as inviolate areas as per hydrological parameters.
 
Last year, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) assessed 825 coal blocks based on the draft parameters for identification of inviolate forest areas. For applying the hydrology parameter, the MoEFCC has recommended excluding 250 m on either side of a first order stream while marking the boundaries of coal blocks. 
 
"Taking this criteria into consideration, a whopping 50.5 percent of the coal blocks are rendered as ‘partially inviolate’ according to the RTI information (refer to theses letters from Forest Survey of India to MoEFCC, Coal Ministry to MoEFCC and MoEFCC to Coal Ministry)," a Greenpeace statement claimed on Thursday.
 
 “It's been close to four years since the exercise to identify inviolate areas started and the MoEFCC is still dragging its feet  on this policy while the coal ministry is going ahead with auctioning and allotting these precious forest areas,” said Nandikesh Sivalingam, senior campaigner, Greenpeace India.
 
“The MoEFCC’s silence gives tacit go-ahead to the government’s coal-dependent energy policy. In effect, it allows the greed for coal to take precedence over everything else, including the inevitable consequence of coal mining destroying sensitive forest areas and freshwater sources in our drought-afflicted country,” said he.
 
“Mining in the forests even beyond  the 250m of the river banks often has a dramatic detrimental impact on the catchment, including water pollution, erosion and worsening water scarcity during dry season,” said Sivalingam. 
 
He added that if all the streams (second and third order) in the river basins are to be taken into consideration, the impact on central India’s water sources could be much higher.
 
Besides the hydrological parameters, the RTI data accessed by Greenpeace India shows that currently the list of inviolate coal blocks stand at a mere 49, covering an area of 1271.43 Sq Km as per four parameters: forest cover, forest type, biological richness and landscape integrity.
 
Reports show that the government has started applying the inviolate policy partially. However it is not clear how they include or exclude coal blocks from this list. At the same time, coal blocks listed as inviolate are being auctioned/allotted to mining companies. 
 
“What is worrying is  the callousness that the MoEFCC has towards protecting the country’s pristine natural resources. It's no longer only about forests, it's clear that mining in the central Indian forest could also have serious impacts on water sources,” said Sivalingam.
 

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Related Images
Cyclone Dana: Heavy rains lash Kolkata, widespread waterlogging reported from several areas
Cyclone Dana: Heavy rains lash Kolkata, widespread waterlogging reported from several areas Oct 25, 2024, at 11:15 pm
Farmers working at dragon fruit garden in Agaratala
Farmers working at dragon fruit garden in Agaratala Jun 30, 2021, at 05:07 am
Swami Ramdev, Achariya Balakrishna perform Yoga with followers at Haridwar
Swami Ramdev, Achariya Balakrishna perform Yoga with followers at Haridwar Jun 22, 2021, at 01:59 am