A coal block in Chhattisgarh’s Hasdeo Arand region has nearly exhausted its reserves seven years before the approved timeline, and has applied for an amendment to the forest clearance granted to it by the Union environment ministry.
The forest clearance for phase 1 of Parsa East and Kete Basan (PEKB) coal block was granted in March 2012 for 15 years over a forest area of 762 hectares considering an annual capacity of 10 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). But in less than nine years, the mine has nearly exhausted its reserves according to documents uploaded on the environment ministry’s Parivesh website.
The production capacity of the mine was enhanced from 10 MTPA to 15 MTPA as per directions of the Ministry of Coal and as per a revised environmental clearance dated August 10 2018, states a letter from M/ s Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RVUNL), which owns the mine, to the environment ministry requesting an amendment to the forest clearance.
