State-owned companies that operate captive coal mines will now be allowed compensatory afforestation activities on degraded forests instead on non-forest land, the environment ministry has said.
Compensatory afforestation over degraded forests that is double in extent instead of equivalent of non-forest land may be considered for captive coal blocks of state public sector units on a case-by-case basis, the environment ministry’s forest conservation division said in a letter to all state governments and union territories on April 11.
The forest conservation rules of 2003 earlier said such plantations should be raised on non-forest land to compensate for loss of forests due to coal mining.
