MoEF says no to Adani project
Both the ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) and a special committee of Maharashtra forest officials have rejected clearance to Adani Power Ltd. proposal to set up a coal mine in Chandrapur’s Lohara block as this would be a direct threat to tigers in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra.
The CAG report on coal block had also highlighted that the Lohara coal mine came within the buffer zone of the Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve.
The four-member special committee headed by chief conservator of forests B.S.K. Reddy warned that a mining lease located in such a sensitive area would isolate this tiger reserve from the rest of the central Indian landscape thereby jeopardising the survival of the tiger population within the reserve.
Environment ministry sources also pointed out that the Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve had connectivity to the central India through the eastern and southern side connecting it to Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
“If the Adani coal mine had been given clearance on the southern corridor, it would have resulted in its fragmentation and this would have adversely affected the movement of tigers and other wild animals apart from causing huge damage to the forests and eco-diversity of this region,” the senior bureaucrat pointed out.
Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani group, had written to the PMO pointing out that they were implementing a 3,300 MW thermal power project with an investment of `21,000 crores. The letter stated that while they had made progress in procurement of geological report, approval of the terms of reference, NoC for withdrawal of water and with the public hearings.
Mr Adani asked for an allocation of alternative coal blocks or for “environment and forest clearance to be given with redefined boundary of Lohara West and Lohara Extension coal blocks to avoid infringement with proposed extension of buffer zone of the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve,” the letter stated.
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