Status of Environmental Sustainability in Coal Mines in 2019-20
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Ministry of Coal Sustainable Development Cell Status of Environmental Sustainability in Coal Mines in 2019-20 Prepared & Submitted by CMPDI (June, 2021) PREFACE Mining is one of the major contributors of the growth and sustenance of human civilisation. In this context, coalmines have played a special role since ancient times, as coal is a major source of energy for the development of a society. However, coal mines lead to breaking of land and especially for an opencast mine, where large tracts of land are used. Coal mining and allied activities adversely affects the overall environment in and around the coal mining areas. The adverse impacts include land degradation, air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, besides having impact on socio-economic status of the area and flora & fauna. It is of utmost importance that areas in and around coal mines should be subjected to different mitigation measures, so as to make life of the communities living around these areas liveable and easy and so it can also ameliorate the whole adjoining ecosystem. Decommissioning of mines also involves removal of environmental, health and safety hazards. The mine closure fund provides some security for the decommissioning activities but may not be sufficient as it is charged on a fix rate. Since, new private entities are now going to form a significant part of the future, the risk of mines being abandoned without proper rehabilitation may increase. The EC/FC provisions need strict implementation and monitoring and there is a need to do more and go beyond these provisions for better environmental sustainability. There is also a need to harness the best global practices in environmentally sustainable coal mining in India. Using environmental mitigation measures in a right and sustainable way will not only provide a better environment to people working and residing in nearby areas but also improve the overall image of the coal sector in the country. So, this is the prudent time for the Ministry of Coal, GoI, as the custodian of coal mines in India, to take up this issue and address it in a systemic manner in the line of the best global practices. In view of this, a “Sustainable Development Cell” under the Ministry of Coal has been created. The Sustainable Development Cell adopting a systemic approach, has task of collection and analysis of data with respect to environmental attributes i.e. land, air, water, noise, etc. and presentation & planning based on this information. This document titled as “Status of Environmental Sustainability in Coal Mines in 2019- 20” is an effort by Ministry of Coal (MoC) with the help of CMPDIL, to prepare an environmental status report of the coal companies under MoC. The reporting structure for the coal mining projects in this document has been split into four sections status of land use, status of air quality, status of water regime and status of mine closure aspects. The information for the status report has been sought from the subsidiaries of CIL, NLCIL and SCCL based on a data collection format developed and finalized by CMPDIL in consultation with MoC. The information compiled and analysed will help MoC to advise, mentor, plan and monitor the environmental mitigation measures taken by the coal companies. This will also help plan in maximizing the utilization of available resources in a sustainable way, minimizing the adverse impact of mining and mitigating it for further ecosystem services. It will also serve as an input for formulation of the future policy framework for the environmental mitigation measures including the Mine Closure Fund etc. at GOI level. The document has been developed into the following chapters – Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Brief of Coal Sector in India Chapter 3: Opencast and underground mines and their environmental impacts Chapter 4: Status of coal mining projects – Brief of projects considered Chapter 5: Status of environmental sustainability – Land Use Chapter 6: Status of environmental sustainability – Air Quality Chapter 7: Status of environmental sustainability – Water Regime Chapter 8: Status of environmental sustainability – Mine Closure Aspects Chapter 9: Categorisation of Projects Chapter 10: Conclusion and way forward The support from Sri B.P.Pati, JS, MoC; Sri Ajitesh Kumar, DS, MoC, Sri Binay Dayal, CMD, CMPDI and Sri S.K.Gomasta, Director (T) ES, CMPDI has been vital in compilation of this status report. Contents CHAPTER I: Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 1.0 Background ............................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Sustainable Development Cell (SDC) at MoC .......................................................................................... 2 1.2 Tasks associated with SDC ...................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Role of SDC, CMPDI ................................................................................................................................. 4 CHAPTER II: Brief of coal sector in India ................................................................................................................ 6 2.0 Coal for Sustainable Growth ................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Coal in the Indian Energy Sector ............................................................................................................. 6 2.2 Coal Mining – Industry Outlook .............................................................................................................. 7 2.3 Brief about Coal India Limited ................................................................................................................ 8 2.4 Environmental Management in CIL ...................................................................................................... 10 2.4.1 Regulatory compliances ..................................................................................................................... 10 2.5 Sustainability Management in CIL ......................................................................................................... 10 2.6 Sustainable Development Policy (SDP) of CIL ....................................................................................... 12 2.7 Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) ....................................................................................... 13 2.8 Environment Management in SCCL ...................................................................................................... 14 2.9 NLC India Ltd and Environment Management in NLC .......................................................................... 15 Chapter III: Opencast and Underground mines and their environmental impacts ................................................... 16 3.0 Stages of Mining .................................................................................................................................... 16 3.1 Exploration ............................................................................................................................................ 16 3.2 Construction and Development ............................................................................................................ 16 3.3 Active Mining ........................................................................................................................................ 16 3.3.1 Opencast Mining ................................................................................................................................ 16 3.3.1.1 Environmental Impact of Opencast Mining .................................................................................... 17 3.3.2 Underground Mining ......................................................................................................................... 17 3.3.2.1 Underground Coal Mining Methods – Up to 500m ........................................................................ 18 3.3.2.2 Underground Coal Mining Methods – beyond 500 m .................................................................... 18 3.3.2.3 Environmental Impact of Underground Mining ............................................................................. 19 3.4 Mine Closure Activities ......................................................................................................................... 19 i 3.5 Mining Method-wise Coal production in CIL, SCCL and NLCIL .............................................................. 19 CHAPTER IV: Status of coal mining projects – Brief of projects considered .............................................................. 22 4.0 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 22 4.1 Brief about the projects considered ..................................................................................................... 26 4.1.1 Eastern Coalfields Limited .................................................................................................................. 26 4.1.2 Bharat Coking Coalfields Limited ....................................................................................................... 26 4.1.3 Central Coalfields Limited .................................................................................................................