The government’s forest advisory committee (FAC) has issued a warning over the possibility of forest land being diverted for non-forest purposes in Steel Authority of India Ltd’s (SAIL) 5.5 million tonne per annum (mtpa) Bolani iron ore mines in Odisha whose mining lease was recently renewed.
According to the minutes of an FAC meeting held on 30 May, the committee requested its regional office in Odisha and the state government to verify whether forest land was diverted without Forest Conservation (FC) Act clearances.
The Odisha state government on 31 May renewed the Bolani mining licence for 20 years, along with those of two other mines owned by SAIL—Barsua and Kalti.
The minutes of the meeting reviewed by Mint show SAIL has been using forest land located within the mining lease for processing, storage and transportation of iron ore raised from its adjoining mining lease—without waiting for the grant of stage-II approval under the FC Act for diversion of forest land during the first renewal of mining lease and without submitting an application to seek approval under the FC Act under the second renewal of mining lease.
“The concerned regional office of MOEF (ministry of environment and forests) and the government of Odisha may be requested to verify the claim of the user agency that forest land located within the said mining lease has not been utilized for non-forest purposes since 1977 and submit a report to MOEF before grant of final approval under FC Act for diversion of the said land,” the minutes noted.
However, a SAIL official who requested anonymity said they have undertaken internal investigations which show there has been no diversion of forest land. They have also given an undertaking that they will not divert forest land for non-forest uses.
A senior government official who also requested anonymity said while SAIL officials are claiming forest land is not being used, “we will still have to verify”, adding, “The fine will be reviewed in that case.”
The minutes also mention SAIL representatives claim the requisite approval under the FC Act for the Bolani mine has already been given by MOEF.
Giriraj Daga, senior analyst with Nirmal Bang Securities, said as SAIL is a public sector unit, he does not foresee any major negative implications. Even in the worst case scenario, if there is some impact on mining in Bolani, SAIL will not be severely affected as it has sufficient inventories of iron ore in other mines, he added.
FAC recommended SAIL should carry out afforestation on 610 hectares of degraded forest land, twice the area it was initially obliged to afforest, due to delays in completion of afforestation.
Source: Livemint
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