Does India’s new coal policy violate the country’s pledge at Paris Climate Agreement?

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India’s Coal Policy Part 7

By Sudiep Shrivastava*

INDIA IS GOING TO MINE COAL FROM DENSE FOREST AREAS WHICH ARE CARBON SINKS

THIS IS PLANNED DISASTER, VIOLATIVE OF THE PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT

That in 2014 when the Supreme Court of India de-allocated all the 204 coal blocks, India had an extraordinary opportunity to rationalise its coal mining plans. By this it could have spared the densely forested areas which constitute less than 15% of the country’s coal deposits in order to reap environmental benefits for the coming generations. Since these forests also act as Carbon Sinks , they would have reduced the Carbon footprint of the country as per Paris Climate Deal.

The Supreme Court in the coal block allocation case had  de-allocated all the coal blocks. This had given  a clean slate to to the government to write its coal story afresh. However the Union of India did not consider the environmental aspect and went on to allot/auction many such coal blocks which were classified as NOGO areas along with the coal blocks of the GO areas.

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As many as 99 coal blocks have been alloted/auctioned to various government and private companies from 2015 onwards under the Coal Mines Special Provisions Act 2015.  At least 29 of these blocks were allotted by auction whereas 70 coal blocks have been allotted to various Government companies. Out of these 99 coal blocks,  17 coal blocks were classified as NOGO.

It is pertinent to mention that only 6 coal blocks amongst the 17 NOGO coal blocks allotted/auctioned have commenced production but the same have consumed only small part of the forests till date and rest of the forest area is still intact. Apart from the above,  11 such coal blocks are still at different stages of clearances and mining there has not commenced yet. All these coal blocks thus could have been de-allocated easily and their allottees allotted alternative coal blocks.    

The allotment or auction of the coal blocks without any prior forest clearance is in contravention of the provisions of Forest Conservation Act 1980 and Environment Protection Act 1986.  Still the government has further announced auction of 41 coal blocks for commercial purposes and out of them 14 were classified as NOGO in the earlier study and 8 were even classified as InViolate by the FSI. The said exercise is going on right now and likely to be completed by mid August.

The present data of Indian Coal Deposits as mentioned in the Annual Report of the Ministry of Coal for 2019-20 demonstrates that enough coal deposits are available in the country to afford a classification on environmental values of the coal blocks while mining the coal. The present demand of the coal, inclusive of around 15-18% import, is less than 1000 million ton per annum. Considering the fact that at least 75% of the coal reserve is minable, we have coal for at least 60-70 years even for the enhanced demand of future.

NO NEW OR EXCESSIVE DEMAND FOR COAL

Coal India Ltd., the mainstay of India’s Coal Mining till date has prepared a vision document in 2018 for the year 2030 and it strongly argued that there is no need to allot/auction or start new coal mines as already allotted mines are sufficient to fulfill 1500 MTPA demand projected for 2030. The Coal India’s advice says;

No new coal mines need to be allocated/ auctioned beyond the current pipeline: The total capacity of mines allocated/ auctioned (including to CIL, SCCL and NLCIL) as on date is about 1,500MTPA at the current rated capacity. In view of the likely demand (base case scenario), there is limited requirement of starting new coal mines except the ones already auctioned/ allocated. In the scenario where actual demand is higher, focus could be laid on brownfield expansion of mines or re-rating of mines based on the R/P ratio of each mine. Although there is limited business case for new mines in the immediate future, say 2022–25 horizon, it may be advisable to monitor the growth in coal demand and decide on new mines accordingly.

Moreover the statutory authority, The Central Electricity Authority (CEA), also came out with a report in February 2020 on Optimal Generation Capacity Mix for 2029-30 in which it projected that by 2030 the dominance of generation mix in the installed capacity would change substantially due to progress of solar and wind power. In 2029-30 the total generation of around 2500 billion unit would receive only around 54% from coal and lignite whereas the current ratio is 77%. This generation translates in to the coal demand of 900 MTPA for power generation whereas the coal demand for other sector would be around 30% of the demand for coal as standard ratio. This converts into the demand of around 1200 MTPA which is much less than the demand projected by the CIL for 2030. The CEA projections are more accurate than what is of CIL projection as it keeps tabs on energy requirement on daily basis. Thus even allotted or in pipeline coal projects are on the higher side than the demand of the coal.

The ongoing coal block auction of Commercial Coal Blocks has started on June 18. The list of 41 coal blocks listed for auction includes, 14 such coal blocks which had been classified as NOGO in 2010 because of their dense forest cover and environmental value. The said study was not approved as a rule in 2012 on the pretext that classification on more scientific and objective parameters to identify InViolate Forest Areas would be done. However the said exercise is still incomplete on the six parameters which were suggested in 2012. In the meantime Government had asked the Forest Survey of India (FSI) to suggest InViolate Forest Areas amongst 793 Coal Blocks. The FSI submitted its findings in October 2014 by saying 73 coal blocks were InViolate though the Ministry of Coal was not happy and continuously sought more and more coal blocks out of the InViolate list making the exercise redundant. As a result there are 8 coal blocks in the present auction list which have been classified as InViolate by the FSI whereas 14 coal blocks earlier classified as NOGO are in the list.

A comparison of these 41 coal blocks with NOGO and InViolate List makes it apparent that no application of mind has been exercised while selecting the coal mines for present auction as many coal blocks of the same state or coal field with less or no forested areas are available for allotment or auction.

AUCTION LIST INCLUDES DENSE FORESTED BLOCKS 

In Chhattisgarh, Madanpur North, Morga2, Morga South, Sayang and Fatehpur East had been classified as NOGO in 2010 study and except Fatehpur East all were classified as InViolate by the FSI in 2014 as well. In Maharashtra, Bander Block is within 10 KM periphery of the famous Tadoba Tiger Reserve and on a Tiger Corridor whereas the Marki Mangli 2 was classified as NOGO in 2010 because of its dense forest cover. The 3 Jharkhand blocks which have been classified as NOGO are Chakla, North Dhadhu and Gondulpara. They are also in the auction list. For Madhya Pradesh Marki Barka and Bandha blocks were classified as NOGO whereas the MarwaTola Coal Block is situated in the Tiger Corridor of Achanak Mar Tiger Reserve and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve and same had been classified as InViolate by the FSI. In the case of Odisha Phuljhari East and West had been classified as NOGO area but found place in the auction list.

Three States out of five whose coal blocks are being auctioned have raised objections. Whereas Jharkhand has raised objection on the entire process, Chhattisgarh wants five coal blocks Madanpur North, Morga2, Morga South, Sayang and Fatehpur East falling in the catchment of Hasdeo and Maand River and in Elephant area to be spared. Similarly the Maharashtra Government has sought removal of Baander coal block being in the 10 km buffer of the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve.

MINING IN DENSE FOREST IS BIG THREAT FOR WATER SECURITY: BANGO DAM OF THE HASDEO RIVER AT STAKE

It was in the decade of 1970s when the present Chhattisgarh was part of the erstwhile Madhya Pradesh. The area was having a minimal 10% under the irrigation and entirely dependent on the rain-fed agriculture. The present districts  of Janjgir, Raigarh used to have massive migration of labourers during non-Kharif season to other states, specially UP, Haryana and Bihar in brick kilns. Around the same time the Korba area was identified as a major centre for coal mining and power generation and for that also the requirement of water was a major concern beside the abundantly available coal.

A multipurpose dam project was envisaged by the then MP Government on the Hasdeo River which is the main tributary of the Mahanadi apart from the Shivnath River. The upstream dam on Hasdeo was planned around 30 km north of Korba with the help of the World Bank. By the early nineties the main dam was built and named as Dalit Leader Mini Mata Bango Reservoir. The area which was submerged in the dam was huge. Total 61 tribal hamlets plus around 11000 hectare of good forest area was sacrificed to create this reservoir which has a planned live capacity of 3045 million cubic meter but has been reduced to 2894 million cubic meter by 2013 as per Central Water Commission assessment due to silting. A total of 2.55 lakh hectare land was identified to receive double crop irrigation and in subsequent years the canal system was developed which provided water to the fields of large tracts of the land bringing prosperity to the region especially in the Dalit and OBC communities living in the area. The displaced population of the submerged area which were mostly tribals never got proper rehabilitation and settled at the nearby forested areas mainly north of the reservoir side.The dam also envisaged 441 million cubic meter water for industrial use mainly for power generation which now is around 12000 MW by the water of the said dam.

The Hasdeo Arand forest is the main catchment of the Hasdeo River and Bango Dam is entirely dependent on this water supply. Yet the allotment was made without considering the water security of the region besides the huge cost of environmental declaration. Similarly other coal blocks of some other dense forested areas of the country are also affecting the catchment of some other important rivers.

Thus the present plan of opening up of India’s dense forest for coal mining is nothing but a planned disaster. It further violates India’s commitment given in the Paris Climate Deal as not only we are going to burn more coal but also clearing such forests which are sink for Carbon DiOxide. A double whammy in the real sense to environmental security of a country whose 60% population is depended on nature based economy and extremely prone to any Climate Change.

*Sudiep Shrivastava is an Independent Legal Services Professional. The published article is his own views.