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The Central zone bench of the National Green Tribunal, Bhopal has cleared the path for the Rajasthan government's mining projects in Chhattisgarh after it dismissed the application against the environment clearances owing to the lack of substance.
The bench dismissed the application filed by Deepanshu Sahu and Karuna against the Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and CC and others. The court in its order said that the environmental clearance given by the MoEF has not been challenged. NGT noted that "nothing material has been disclosed" by the applicant. "The grievance of the application relates to the environmental clearance granted in the year 2011 and 2012 and subsequent revalidation of environmental clearance which was issued by MoEF and CC vide order dated June 25, 2015. Nothing material has been disclosed and the environmental clearance has not been challenged. If Applicant wants relief of quashing the approval of the project, an alternate remedy of filing the appeal is available. Application, as filed, is not maintainable," said the court order. The court order cleared the path of the Rajasthan government's three coal blocks. "The Original Application No. 49/2022 is disposed of," read the order. An application challenging the grant of coal mining in the Udaipur Tehsil of Chhattisgarh's Sarguja District, was filed before the NGT. Besides seeking the quashing of the approval of the mining project, the application sought the constitution of expert committees in the interests of local ecology. Earlier in March, the Chhattisgarh government permitted Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RVUNL) to undertake mining in Parsa East and Kanta Basan coal block in the second phase. RVUNL has been permitted to undertake coal mining in 1,136 hectare area. Notably, the Central government has allotted 15 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) coal blocks in Parsa East-Kanta Basan (PEKB) in Chhattisgarh and 5 MTPA capacity in Parsa to Rajasthan in the year 2015. Mining in the first phase of Parsa East- Kanta Basan coal block has been completed in March. In such a situation, due to non-supply of coal for the power generation units of Rajasthan, there was a situation of power crisis in the state. Gehlot had urged the Chhattisgarh government to take appropriate positive decisions on this subject at the earliest, keeping in mind the environmental protection and requirements of Rajasthan. (ANI)
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