With the growing coal demand to meet the requirement of power generation in the country, the Coal Ministry has requested coal-rich states not to sterilise coal bearing areas by taking up infrastructure projects.
In a communication sent to the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, Union Minister of Coal, Sriprakash Jaiswal has said that the government is making all efforts to increase production of coal in order to bridge the growing gap between demand and availability of coal in the country. “While the coal companies are constantly endeavouring to increase the production of coal, we need to ensure that the coal reserves are not sterilized by setting up large super structures on the coal bearing areas,” he said.
Jaiswal urged the States to ascertain the views of the Ministry of Coal and coal companies concerned if coal bearing area is involved in the construction of any infrastructure project.
He has also urged the States to put in place an effective mechanism to prevent the construction of surface super structures over coal bearing areas. The minister has proposed that a central agency, preferably Coal Controllers Organisation, should be empowered to examine this aspect in each case.
The Coal Ministry has initiated steps to prepare an inventory of digital maps covering all the coal bearing areas which will be shared with the State government.
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