MoEF acts tough, many projects hit

The Ministry of Forests & Environment (MoEF) seems to have woken up to the environment issues in the country and has started taking a pro-active approach by taking tough stand on granting clearances for several projects which will have adverse impact on the environment if permitted.

The MoEF has not even spared the Power Finance Corporation (PFC), which is nodal agency for development of ultra-mega-power plants (UMPP) in the country, as the PFC is not being given clearance for coal-block allocation for its 4,000-MW Bedabahal UMPP in Orissa.

The Bedabahal UMPP is the second project after Sarguja UMPP to face delays due to clearances from the Ministry.
By Arvind Sen
Recently, the Ministry stood firm on its stand that mining companies will not be granted access in "no go" areas in the country.

However, the government decided to exempt some projects that already have received coal block allocation in the "no go" areas. The Dulanga coal block allotted to NTPC is located in this region.

Earlier, a coal block allotted to Adani Power, which was proposing to develop the 3,300-MW Tiroda power project, was cancelled. The Ministry refused allocation as the mine was close to the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve.

The latest in the line of casualty are several projects of Vedanta Resources and are feared to get delayed due to environmental clearance issues.

Recently, the Madras High Court directed Sterlite Industries India, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources, to stop operations at its 400,000-ton-per-year copper-smelting facility at Tuticorin, as its operations were adversely impacting workers at the site and were posing an environmental threat.

Sterlite Industries allegedly operated the smelter without implementing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and holding a public hearing.

Earlier, Sterlite Energy was forced to shut its 600-MW independent thermal power plant at Jharsuguda in Orissa after residents complained about air pollution caused by the power project.
The power plant, which was commissioned on August 21, 2010, faced technical complications leading to fly-ash emissions. The project, which has been connected to the state grid, is at the same site as SEL's 1,215-MW captive power project.

Recently, the power project has resumed operations after corrective measures were taken to eliminate fly-ash emissions.

However, dark clouds of uncertainty are still hovering over Vedanta Resources. The National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA) rejected the approval granted to the US$ 1.7 billion bauxite mining project proposed by Sterlite Industries and has directed the MoEF to reassess the proposal.

According to NEAA officials, the EIA study, which is a critical document for approval from the Ministry, was not made available during the public hearing.

Further, the authority expressed concern about the nature of the EIA, which did not analyse and take into consideration the adverse implications of the mining project on human life.

According to Jairam Ramesh, the Minister of Environment and Forests, Sterlite Industries, besides endangering the life of the Dongria Kondh tribal community in the region, had further flouted several laws, including the Forest Conservation Act, the Forest Rights Act and the Environment Protection Act.

To make matters worse for Sterlite, the Ministry of Forests & Environment has also issued a notice to the company for illegal capacity augmentation of its alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Orissa to six million tonnes per year, from one million tonne per year.