NAGPUR: Under pressure from his cabinet colleagues to give go-ahead to coal blocks of Adani group in Lohara close to Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve union minister of environment & forests Jairam Ramesh will visit Lohara and Tadoba on January 26 to ascertain the facts. He will be accompanied by top MoEF officials.
According to highly-placed sources, Ramesh is arriving in the city on Monday night and will leave for Tadoba by road on Tuesday morning. After the expert appraisal committee (EAC) of the MoEF rejected Adani's proposal to clear 1750 hectares of dense forests in Lohara for coal mining, Ramesh is under pressure to reconsider the proposal.
Sources say as coal blocks suitable for Adani power plant in Tiroda near Gondia, home town of Praful Patel, are not available, the company is again vying for Lohara. The MoEF in November 2009 has already rejected the proposal on the grounds that mining project is in the buffer of TATR and the corridor is a rich forest and forms fringe of tiger reserve. The panel has also asked Adani to meet the coal requirement by importing coal from other blocks.
Sources said Adani was planning to seek coal from Madanpur and Parsakete blocks in Korba but these blocks too have been denied by the MoEF on the ground that these form part of elephant corridor. Left with no option, now Adani group is once again seeking Patel's help to get Lohara blocks cleared.
Earlier, Patel had told TOI it was the responsibility of the UPA government to provide an alternate coal block to Adani. "A new site for coal mining will be allotted to the company. if there was a delay in allotment of alternate site for coal mining, then efforts will be made to provide coal for the project from an alternate coal linkage. We will ensure that there was no delay in the commissioning of the thermal power plant," he had said.
In view of this, sources close to Ramesh said it's true that the minister is under pressure to clear Lohara blocks. When contacted, Ramesh told TOI, "Yes, there is pressure, but I am not going to buckle. I'm visiting Tadoba and Pench tiger reserves on January 26 and will be having Bt-brinjal consultations on January 27 in Nagpur and also visit Neeri."
The move by Adani is likely to foment fresh trouble with anti-mining activists and conservationists planning huge protests in Chandrapur during Ramesh's visit to protest against mining near TATR. "We praise Ramesh for his bold decision to reject mining near Tadoba. However, renewed attempts by Adani to grab Lohara will be foiled," warned Bandu Dhotre and others, who have taken the matter to high court through a PIL. Many activists plan to meet Ramesh in Chanda
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