MEETING HELD ON 18th-19th JUNE 2012 IN SCOPE COMPLE

2already floated. It was informed that Stage-I Forest Clearance has been applied for and site inspectionis expected to be carried out shortly. It was informed that the loading at railway siding would becarried out by hopper/mechanical loading system. Proponent informed that land acquisition for theproject would be carried out as per State Government norms under various regulations. It was alsoinformed that presently the R&R Plan has been forwarded to the Collector, Raigarh (Chhattisgarh) on15.05.2012 for approval and also sent to Mineral Resource Dept. for Raipur for comments. Of the totalRs 63.56 crores earmarked for R&R Policy, Rs 7.70 crores is for Tribal Development Plan (TDP) and Rs10 crores for CSR. It was informed that a Committee has been constituted for implementation andmonitoring of CSR. There are only 21 Tribal PAFs belonging to Taraimar village, who require relocation.The 119 PAPs (including land losers) consist mainly of ST and would be compensated as per theprovisions of the Panchayat Extension in Scheduled area (PESA) Act, 1996. It was informed thatapproval of the Gram Panchayat has been obtained land for building a Hospital in the area. TheCommittee was informed that a Writ Petition No. 3876 of 2011 has been filed in the Hon’ble HighCourt of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur against the proposed mining project in Dharmajaigarh NagarPanchayat Area and the Hon’ble High Court of Chhattisgarh had issued Ex-parte Interim Order on9.12.2011 banning consideration of the environmental clearance, which had been subsequentlyvacated on 03.01.2012. Representations dated 27.02.2011 against the project, which were received inthe Ministry from residents of Dharmajaigarh Township and village had been circulated in advance tothe EAC members and to the proponent for consideration in the meeting. The proponent also made adetailed presentation on the issues raised in the representation.The Committee recommended reintroduction of species from the pre-mining ecosystem and use ofspecies of minor forest produce such as Amla (Embelica officinalis), Char or Chironji (Bucchnanialanzen), Baheda (Terminalia bellirica) for Habitat Restoration. The Committee recommendeddevelopment of a thick 3-tier green belt along side roads, habitation and township. The Committeedesired that laying of railway track for coal transportation should take into consideration therequirements of other mines coming up in the area. The Committee reiterated that coal transportationby road should be permitted only for a period of 5 years only.The Committee observed that coal transportation even via a dedicated road would cause considerableair pollution to adjoining habitations/villages from coal dust due to spillages and desired that rail modeof transportation should be introduced at the earliest. The Committee desired that the proponent usemechanically covered trucks for coal transportation and also participate in the development of avenueplantation along the 70 km stretch of the dedicated coal transportation road, in consultation with StateGovernment. The Committee desired that areas between the road and habitation/villages should alsobe provided with 3-tier green belt.The Committee desired that the approved copy of R&R Plan should be submitted to Ministry forrecord. The Committee desired that the proponent also engage experts in occupational health. TheCommittee also desired that proponent should adopt a “Corporate Environment Policy” for protectionof Environment as per MOEF Circular dated 26.04.2011 and details furnished to the Ministry for record.The Committee also desired that issues of safety should also be incorporated in the CorporateEnvironment Policy. The Committee desired that two external experts should be included in themonitoring of implementation of CSR and may contact Bilaspur University and Sagar University in thisregard. The Committee desired that the Tribal Rehabilitation Colony should be provided with fruit treessuch as Jackfruit, Lemon, Mahua, Mango and tree species of minor forest produce, including bamboo.The proponent must facilitate multi-species agriculture to be also undertaken in the area.