F. No. 8-31/2011-FC

Subject: Diversion of 245.78 ha of forest land in favour of M/s Eastern Central Coalfields Limited for Coal mining at Chuperbita OCP of Rajmahal Group of Mines in Pakur and Godda forest Division in Pakur and Godda Districts, respectively in the State of Jharkhand. 1. The State Government of Jharkhand vide their letter No. 3/Vbanbhoomi-24/2008/59/VP dated 5.01.2011 submitted the above mentioned proposal seeking prior approval of the Central Government under Section- 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. 2. The factsheet of the proposal are as given below: FACT SHEET

1. Name of the Proposal Diversion of 245.78 ha of forest land in favour of M/s Eastern Central Coalfields Limited for Coal mining at Chuperbita OCP of Rajmahal Group of Mines in Pakur and Godda forest Division in Pakur and Godda Districts, respectively in the State of Jharkhand 2. Location (i) State Jharkhand (ii) District Pakur and Godda 3. Particulars of Forests: (i) Name of Forest Division and Pakur Forest Division and Godda Forest Division, Forest area involved. 245.780 ha

Reserve Forest – 92.282 ha (ii) Legal status/Sy.No. Protected Forests – 99.516 ha Jungle Jhari - 53.982 ha Total - 245.78 ha

SOI Toposheet – Pg- 202/c. (iii) Map Digital DGPS map- Not enclosed

4. Details of the user agency Name of the user agency Eastern Coalfields Limited- A subsidiary of Coal India Limited. Nature of the user agency A Central Government undertaking

5. Topography of the area - 6. (i) Geology - (ii) Vulnerability to erosion Area is undulating and prone to erosion. 7. (i) Vegetation Species wise details of vegetation composition not provided.

(ii) Density 0.4 & 0.6 to 0.7

(iii) No. of trees to be felled Regional Office in its inspection report has reported that total number of trees enumerated comes to 444286, out of which 95893 trees are 30 cm girth and 348393 are above 30 cm girth class. However no marking on the trees is found during inspection.

8. Whether area is significant from No wildlife point of view 9. Whether forms part of National No the proposed area does not form part of National Park, park, Wildlife Sanctuary, Wildlife Sanctuary, Biosphere Reserve, Tiger Reserve, Biosphere Reserve, Tiger Reserve, etc. Elephant Corridor, etc. (if so, details of the area and comments of the Chief Wildlife Warden 10. Whether any RET species of flora No rare/endangered species of flora & fauna were found and fauna are found in the area. If in the area. so details thereof 11. Approximate distance of the Proposed site is along the Forest Boundary. proposed site for diversion from boundary of forest. 12. Whether any protected Such an area is not located in the Proposed area. archaeological/ heritage site/defence establishment or any other important monuments is located in the area. 13. Whether any work of in violation of No the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 has been carried out (Yes/No). If yes details of the same including period of work done, action taken on erring officials. Whether work in violation is still in progress. 14. Whether the requirement of forest Yes, Forest land by the user agency is unavoidable and land as proposed by the user agency balest for the project. in col. 2 of Part-I is unavoidable and barest minimum for the project, if no recommended area item-wise with details of alternatives examined. 15. Whether clearance under the Yes Environment (protection) Act, 1986 is required? 16. Compensatory Afforestation Compensatory afforestation has been proposed over degraded forest land, twice in extent to the forest land proposed for diversion. (i) Details of non-forest Degraded forest 491.56 or say 492 ha has been identified area/degraded forest area for raising CA in Pakur and Godda Forest Division. identified for CA, its distance from adjoining forest, number of patches, sixe of each patches. (ii) Map showing non- Map is enclosed. However, differential GPS map of the forest/degraded forest area area identified for raising CA has not been submitted. identified for CA and adjoining forest boundaries. (iii) Detailed CA scheme including Enclosed. However, scheme for plantation over species to be planted, degraded forest land in lieu of 1.5 times the area of safety implementing agency, time zone has not been submitted. schedule, cost structure, etc. (iv) Total financial outlay for CA CA Scheme = Rs. 2,56,07,980.00 NPV= Rs. 18,78,06,526.00 Safety zone linear plantation = Rs. 98,54,860.00 1 ½ times of safety zone block plantation= Rs. 15,54,008.00 Total financial Outlay= 22,48,23,374.00

(v) Certificate from the competent Not enclosed. authority regarding suitability of the area identified for CA and from management point of view. 17. Catchment Area Treatment NA 18. Rehabilitation of Oustees a) No of families involved Number of families on the cire area where670 b) Category of families SC families – 163 ST families - 364 Number of backwar families – 143 Total 670 families

c) Details of rehabilitation plan Not enclosed. 19. Compliance of Scheduled Tribe Not submitted. and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 20. Cost Benefit Ratio Rs. 1:10:19 Cost benefits analysis appears to be inappropriate. It appears that suitable techno-economic tools to assess the parameters specified in the Guidelines issued under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 have not been applied in the CB analysis. 21. Total Cost of the Project Part-1 -Total capital investment of the project will be Rs 585.47.

However in the SIR of the Regional Office, the cost of the project is reported as Rs 517 crores.

22. Employment Potential Total manpower required for the project is 1169 and the land owner whose land falls in the core zone will be recruited as per the company policy which will be direct employment, Lot of other will get employment e.g. contractual job, civil works, and other ancillary jobs related to the project. 23. Detail of mining lease Nature of mining Open Cast Total area of mining lease Date of Grant of mining lease Not mentioned Validity of mining lease Not mentioned 24. Purpose wise breakup of forest land Particulars Forest land Non-forest Total (ha) (Ha) land (Ha) i. Quarry area 211.461 543.539 755.0 ii. External Dump 34.319 338.681 373.0 iii. Infrastructure and Others 0.0 93.0 93.0 iv. Rehabilitation, Colony 0.0 77.500 77.50 Total 245.78 1187.72 1433.5 Safety Zone 5.588 - 5.588 Kindly note that area of safety zone has not been included in the total area proposed for diversion

25. Compliance of Scheduled Tribe Not submitted. and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rihgts) Act, 2006 26. Recommendation i. DFO Recommended (pg-85-88/c) ii. CCF Recommended (pg-68-70/c) iii. Nodal Officer Recommended (pg-91/c) iv SG Recommended (pg-67/c) 27. District Profile (i) Total Geographical area of the 2794.83 Sq. Km. district (ii) Total Forest area/Divisional 21172.00 Ha. Forest area (iii) Total area diverted 507.40 ha. (Two Cases). since 1980 (iv) Total CA stipulated since 1980 a. Forest land including penal CA 139.50 has b. Non Forest Land (v) Progress of Compensatory 437.64 ha Afforestation a. Forest land b. Non Forest land Fund deposited in various Banks under term deposits.

3. The State Government and the PCCF have recommended the proposal subject to general and standard conditions applicable to the mining projects.

4. SITE INSPECTION REPORT IN RESPECT OF DIVERSION OF 245.78 HA OF FOREST LAND FOR CHUPERBITA OCP,RAJMAHAL GROUP OF MINES OF M/s EASTERN COALFIELD LTD IN PAKUR AND GODDA FOREST DIVISIONS OF JHARKHAND.

The site inspection of the above project was carried out by the undersigned on 16.09.2015 in the presence Divisional Forest Officer Pakur, Assistant Conservator of Forest of Godda Forest Division, user agency represented by GM (I/C), Dy GM of Rajmahal group of mines, Range forest officers of Hiranpur and Boarijore Ranges of Pakur and Godda forest divisions and other field staff.

1. Legal status of the forest land proposed for diversion:

The legal status of the forest land is Protected Forests (Notified), Reserve forests and Jungle Jhari.

2. Item-wise break-up details of the forest land proposed for diversion.

The item-wise break-up details of the forest land is as follows:

Division R.F Area (in ha) P.F. area (in ha) Jungle Jhari (in ha) Total Pakur 92.282 92.569 52.073 236.924 Godda -- 6.947 1.909 8.856 Total 92.282 99.516 53.982 245.780

3. Whether proposal involves any construction of buildings (including residential) or not. If yes, details thereof:

Not reported.

4. Total cost of the project at present rates:

As per record it is Rs 517 crores.

5. Wildlife:

Whether forest area proposed for diversion is important from wildlife point of view or not: No rare/endangered species of fauna are found in the area. Proposed area for diversion does not form a part of National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary, and Biosphere/Tiger Reserve.

Since the area of forest land diverted is large i.e.245.780 ha, it will definitely show significant impact on the flora and fauna of the area.

6. Vegetation:

The density of vegetation appears to be 0.4 in Godda, and 0.7 in Pakur forest divisions. It appears to be a highly dense forest area.

(a) Total number of trees to be felled.

The no. of trees enumerated comes to 444286, out of which 95893 trees are 30 cm girth and 348393 are above 30 cm girth class. However no marking on the trees is found during inspection.

Effect of removal of trees on the general ecosystem in the area:

As number of trees involved is very large, it will adversely affect the general eco-system of the area.

8. Compensatory afforestation: As reported, DFO, Pakur has identified 492.00 ha of degraded forest land along forest boundary in 14 patches. The DFO,Godda has identified 18.00 ha of degraded forest under one patch.

(a) Whether land for compensatory afforestation is suitable from plantation and management point of view or not:

Suitable as reported by DFO's Pakur and Godda.

(b) Whether land for compensatory afforestation is free from encroachment/other encumbrances:

No information is available in records.

Not reported.

(d) Land identified for raising compensatory afforestation is in how many patches, whether patches are compact or not:

DFO, Pakur has identified degraded forest land for raising compensatory afforestation in 14 patches. DFO,Godda has identified degraded forest raising compensatory afforestation in one patch.

(e) Map with details:

Enclosed as Annexure.

(f) Total financial outlay:

2.248 crores.

9. Whether proposal involves violation of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 or not. If yes, a detailed report on violation including action taken against the concerned officials:

As reported, no violation of has been committed.

10. Whether proposal involves rehabilitation of displaced persons. If yes, whether rehabilitation plan has been prepared by the State Government or not :

As reported around 670 families in the core zone area where mining activities will be carried will be will be rehabilitated, Out of which ST families are 364 involving 1900 people, SC families are 163 involving 852 people and 143 BC families involving 750 people will be involved. Detailed resettlement and rehabilitation plan has been prepared and submitted.

11. Reclamation plan:

Submitted by the user agency and the same is enclosed.

12. Details on catchment and command area under the project: Not applicable.

Catchment area treatment plan to prevent siltation of reservoir:

Not applicable.

13. Cost benefit ratio:

As reported it is 1:10.19.

14. Recommendations of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests/State Government:

Recommended by the PCCF / State Government.

15. Conservator of Forests (Central) shall give detailed comments on whether there are any alternative routes/alignment for locating the project on the non-forest land:

Annexed separately.

16. Utility of the project:

It is stated that to meet the demand of power grade coal for the three Super Thermal Power Stations i.e. Farakka STPS,Kahalgoan stage-1 STPS and Kahalgoan stage-II STPS, Cuperbita basin was identified as potential source of thermal grade coal and the same will be supplied to the three STPS.

Apart from this, project will provide employment opportunity to people, help in development of local industry, improve the quality of life of the people, and help in upliftment of social and educational standards of the people. As reported number of people benefitted will be 1169 through employment and indirectly it will benefit 17 lakh people approximately.

17 Numbers of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes to be benefited by the project:

As reported around 670 families involving 3502 people in the core zone area where mining activities will be carried will be will be rehabilitated, Out of which ST families are 364 involving 1900 people, SC families are 163 involving 852 people and 143 BC families involving 750 people will be involved.

(a) Whether land being diverted has any socio-cultural/ religious value: Not reported. (b) Whether any sacred grove or very old growth trees/forests exist in the areas proposed for diversion: Not reported. (c) Whether the land under diversion forms part of any unique eco-system: Not reported.

18. Situation with respect to any Protected Area:

Proposed area for diversion does not form a part of National Park. Wildlife Sanctuary, Biosphere/Tiger Reserve..

19. Any other information relating to the project: During the site inspection it was observed that no work has been started and the whole area was demarcated on the ground by RCC Pillars with appropriate numbers. The GPS coordinates of some of the pillars were selected randomly and were verified on the ground by handheld GPS instruments and found to be in order. The boundary pillars were maintained in proper conditions but in some places the boundary pillars were completely damaged by the local people and iron rods used in pillars were stolen. The user agency was advised that in such places RCC pillars could be replaced with Stone pillars.

The user agency may also explore the possibility of underground mining instead of open cast mining. The user agency shall have to take all possible precautions for protection of environment and control of pollution while operating in the area.

RECOMMENDATIONS OF ADDL.PRINPAL CHIEF CONSERVATOR OF FORESTS (CENTRAL)

On perusal of records and Site Inspection Report of DCF the following observations are made:

i. The item-wise break-up of the forest land is as follows:

Division R.F Area (in ha) P.F. area (in ha) Jungle Jhari (in ha) Total Pakur 92.282 92.569 52.073 236.924 Godda -- 6.947 1.909 8.856 Total 92.282 99.516 53.982 245.780 ii. It may be seen that 92.282 ha of Reserved Forest is proposed for diversion. iii. The density of vegetation has been reported to be 0.4 in Godda and 0.7 in Pakur Forest Divisions. Maximum forest area (236.924 ha.) proposed for diversion falls under Pakur Forest Division which comes under highly dense forest area with vegetation density 0.7. iv. Total 4,44,286 No. of trees are proposed to be felled (i.e. 1808 No. of trees per ha.), out of which 95,893 trees are below 30 cm girth and 3,48,393 trees are above 30 cm girth. v. Diversion of such a large patch of forest land (245.78 ha) will definitely have adverse impact on the flora and fauna of the area. vi. The Cost Benefit Ratio is 1:10.19, i.e. benefit is very less in the view of loss of the large quantity of highly dense forest. The proposal may be decided keeping in view the above observations/ facts. The User Agency may explore the possibility of underground mining instead of open cast mining in view of the density of forest.

5. The above proposal along-with SIR was placed before FAC in its meeting held on 24.11.2015. After examination of the complete details of the proposal observed as below.

(i) The State Government of Jharkhand vide their letter No. 3/Vbanbhoomi-24/2008/59/VP dated 5.01.2011 submitted the above mentioned proposal seeking prior approval of the Central Government under Section- 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

(ii) The User Agency is Eastern Coal Fields Limited- A Subsidiary of Coal India Limited. (iii) The proposal was for diversion of 245.78 ha forest land in Pakur Forest Division and Godda Forest Division, of Jharkhand. This forest land is included in the total area of 1433.5 ha the remaining being Non forest land.

(iv) Of the proposed 245.78 ha for diversion area under Reserve Forest was 92.282 ha, under Protected Forest was 99.516 ha and remaining 53.982 ha under Jungle Jhari. The area proposed for diversion is undulating and prone to erosion. The density of vegetation varied from 0.4 to 0.6-0.7, but the species wise details of the vegetation composition has not been provided.

(v) The proposed area does not form part of any National Park, Wildlife sanctuary, Biosphere Reserve, Tiger Reserve etc. Further no rare/endangered species of flora and were found in the area.

(vi) The purpose wise break up of forest and non forest land has been provided. Of the forest land proposed to be diverted 211.461 ha is Quarry area and 34.319 ha is External Dump area. However the area of safety zone was not included in the proposal. Details of date of grant of mining lease and validity too were not indicated.

(vii) The Cost Benefit ratio of the project is projected as 1:10.19. It appeared that suitable techno-economic tools to assess the parameters as specified in the guidelines issued under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 had not been applied.

(viii) Compliance of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 has not been submitted by the user agency.

(ix) Although there are no oustees from the forest land, but there are about 18 villages with about 670 families would be affected by the said project of which SC families are 163, ST families are 364 and Backward families are 143. Rehabilitation and Resettlement Plan has been submitted by the user agency.

(x) The Compensatory Afforestation has been proposed over degraded forest land, twice in extent of forest land proposed to be diverted. 491.56 ha of degraded forest land has been identified for raising of Compensatory Afforestation in Pakur and Godda Forest division. Site Suitability Certificate for CA site, by the competent authority has not been submitted.

(xi) A Compensatory Afforestation Scheme for plantation over degraded forest land has been submitted, however the scheme for plantation of the degraded forest land in lieu of 1.5 times the area of safety zone has not been submitted. The total outlay of the CA Scheme including NPV was projected at Rs 22,48,23,374/-

(xii) The PCCF and State Government have recommended the proposal.

(xiii) The Regional Office in its Site Inspection Report observes that since the area of forest land diverted is large i.e.245.780 ha, it will definitely show significant impact on the flora and fauna of the area. The density of vegetation appears to be 0.4 in Godda, and 0.7 in Pakur forest divisions. It appears to be a highly dense forest area. (xiv) As per the site inspection report of the regional office total number of trees to be felled comes to 444286, out of which 95893 trees are 30 cm girth and 348393 are above 30 cm girth class. However no marking on the trees is found during inspection. As number of trees involved is very large, it will adversely affect the general eco-system of the area. (xv) As for the sites for Compensatory afforestation, DFO, Pakur has identified 492.00 ha of degraded forest land along forest boundary in 14 patches. The DFO, Godda has identified 18.00 ha of degraded forest under one patch. However no information is available as to whether the land for compensatory afforestation is free from encroachment/other encumbrances: (xvi) Also during the site inspection it was observed that no work has been started and no activities in violation have been committed. The whole area was demarcated on the ground by RCC Pillars with appropriate numbers. The GPS coordinates of some of the pillars were selected randomly and were verified on the ground by handheld GPS instruments and found to be in order. (xvii) Addl PCCF (Central) has not recommended the proposal clearly. It recommends that “the proposal may be decided keeping in view the above observations/ facts. The User Agency may explore the possibility of underground mining instead of open cast mining in view of the density of forest.” (xviii) Assessment of proposal through Decision Support system indicates following a. River passes through proposed mine. As per draft parameter for declaring forest area inviolate for mining, forest area within 250 meters on both the sides of the river will become inviolate thereby reducing the actual mining area. b. Proposed CA sites appears to be encroached.

6. Considering the above and after detailed deliberations the FAC recommended that:

a) The state Government may explore the possibility of opting for Underground mining in the forest area b) The compliance of relevant provisions of The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 be submitted by the State Government. c) The Cost Benefit ratio of the project may be submitted as per the guidelines issued under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

7. The above recommendation of FAC was communicated to the State Government of Jharkhand vide its Ministry’s letter dated 31.12.2015 (Pg. 278/c). Now, the State Government of Jharkhand vide their letter No. 3/Vbanbhoomi-24/2008/14/VP dated 03.01.2017 along with annexures (Pg. 279-441/c) has forwarded the information / documents in respect of Ministry’s letter dated 31.12.2015 and the point wise comments as under below:

S. No. Observations raised by the Reply submitted by the State Government of MoEF & CC, GoI vide its letter Jharkhand vide their letter dated 03.01.2017 dated 31.12.2015 1. The State Government may In this regard the State Government has reported that explore the possibility of opting the Study on Feasibility of underground mining has for underground mining in the been conducted by CMPDIL. The study has concluded forest area. that the proposed UG project is not economically viable as the project gives negative IRR and the study reported is available at (Pg. 293-379/c). 2. The compliance of relevant In this regard the State Government has reported that provisions of the Scheduled Tribes the Copy of Certificates under Scheduled Tribes & and Other Traditional Forest Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Forest Rights) Act, 2006, has been issued by the Rights) Act, 2006 be submitted by District Collector, Pakur, vide their letter No. 500 dated the State Government. 28.07.2016 (Pg.381/c) for diversion of 585.45 Acre of forest land (including Safety Zone) with Gram Sabha Resolution and the same available at (Pg. 383-412/c) and the District Collector, Godda vide their letter No. 534/REV dated 27.05.2015 (Pg. 413/c) for diversion of 8.241 ha of forest land with the Gram Sabha resolution. 3. The Cost Benefit ratio of the In this regard the State Government has reported that project may be submitted as per the Cost Benefit Analysis as per guidelines issued guidelines issued under the Forest under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 is submitted (Conservation) Act, 1980. by the project proponent and the same is available at (Pg. 284-292/c).

8. From the information submitted by the State Government, it is observed that the State Government has reported that the Department of Forest Environment and Climate Change has not competent of technically for Underground Mining Economically Viable, in this connection the State Government has also requested this Ministry either to take the decision in the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) or to obtain comments from Ministry of Coal or any other expert for further action.

The facts related to the above proposal may be placed before FAC in its forthcoming meeting on 25.04.2017 for their examination and appropriate recommendation.

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