DESPITE A biodiversity report from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) warning that the forests in Chhattisgarh’s Hasdeo Aranya Coal Field (HACF) (an idea of the then UPA government) should be declared a “no-go area”, the state government is pushing for permission to start phase II of mining in the PEKB coal block, in the same area, records reviewed by The Indian Express show.
The PEKB — Parsa (East) and Kete Basan — coal block is owned by Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited and run by Adani Enterprises, which is the official Mine Developer and Operator (MDO) in this venture.
The records from a meeting of the Union Environment Ministry’s Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) on October 28 show the committee analysed an “instant request” for clearance filed by the state government.
