Stalemate brewing between mines ministry-Odisha on EC?
The November 29 directive from the Ministry of Mines may have created a sort of a stalemate between the government and the state of Odisha. It was learnt after the directive had been issued that Odisha’s department of steel & mines found the directive unacceptable since it wants the existing environmental clearance to continue for two years under the new winning bidder, for the sake of “continuity”.
Consequently, a meeting was held between the Ministry of Mines officials and Odisha state government officials on December 10 to discuss Odisha’s grouses against the issue. However, a senior official in Odisha’s department of mines informed SteelMint that Tuesday’s meeting remained “inconclusive”.
The official further said there is going to be another meeting held in the first week of January 2020 in Bhubaneswar where the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) officials will be present. “This will be a separate meeting with MoEF where they will assess our views. The meeting is slated in the first week of January,” the official informed, adding that a date for the meeting has not yet been fixed.
From what is heard, it seems the December 10 meeting was inconclusive because the Odisha government’s views did not go down favourably with the Ministry of Mines officials who want the winning bidder to apply for a fresh environmental clearance.
“We don’t know if the government will bring about modifications in the new EC proposals. Only after the final meeting is over can we say whether the government will accept our views or not,” the Odisha government official further observed.
Meanwhile, it seems another meeting was held today (Wednesday, December 11) in the Ministry of Mines where an MoEF official was also present. However, officials were tight-lipped about the outcome of Wednesday’s meeting, saying, “The minutes of today’s meeting will be out soon”.
As per the November 29 directive, successful bidders in the upcoming mineral auctions will have to apply for fresh environmental clearances (ECs) against the earlier anticipation that the same would be extended for two years.
Sources in leading merchant miners said they do not think there will be a huge delay because the government, under the new proposals, has exempted the new bidder from preparing a new environmental impact assessment (EIA) study and environmental impact management plan (EIMP), “which takes up a lot of time” along with the public hearing, provided the new miner does not alter the previous mine owner’s production plan.
The merchant miners, thus, feel, at best, the delay would be of six months against the previous more than a year’s feet-dragging.
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Madhumita Mookerji
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