The Planning
Commission has sounded the alarm over falling coal supplies, saying that
special consideration should be made for projects in environmentally sensitive
areas.
In its approach paper to the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, the commission has sought
a thorough review of the current approach to the environment-versus-development
debate, clearly according top priority to the country's development agenda.
At the centre of the commission's critique is the 'go and no-go area' policy
for coal blocks and the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index, or CEPI,
norms adopted by the environment and forests ministry.
“Part of the reason for the shortfall in coal production is the
implementation of tighter environment-related regulations, and problems in
rehabilitation and resettlement and land acquisition,” the document notes.
Coal projects have struggled to get environment clearances since 2009, when the
ministry's no-go classification disallowed mining in 203 coal blocks. According
to a coal ministry's projection, the output from those 203 blocks, estimated at
660 million tonnes annually, could have been used to generate around 1.3 lakh
megawatts of power a year.
“The environment ministry had adopted the policy of 'go, no-go' area This
would have severely impacted the ability to expand domestic production of
coal,” said a commission official. “The policy had to be reviewed and
now some coal blocks have been cleared. This has to be continued to ensure coal
availability.''
The Economic Times
Leave a Reply