Bhubaneswar: The recent auctioning plan of nine coal blocks in Odisha in the heavy industrial Talcher and Ib Valley region has not gone down well with the environmentalists from the state with many claiming it as an extra burden on the ecology of the area.
The nine blocks from Odisha which were auctioned included eight areas in Angul and one in Jharsuguda. Many of them are situated close to important rivers of Odisha and as per environmentalists, it can hamper the ecology of those proposed areas.
“A number of them are close to rivers like Brahmani and others. The water streams and canals passing through the proposed areas are likely to vanish in the days to come. It will also add extra burden on the nearby water bodies and increase pollution in those areas,” said Sankar Prasad Pani, a lawyer with the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
He also added that a number of families in those areas are also threatened to lose their livelihood and land and face displacement in the process of mining in the nine coal blocks of Odisha.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Talcher-Angul and Ib Valley were declared as ‘Critically Polluted Areas’ in their assessment of pollution and industrialisation levels in the past. However in the last few years, a moratorium was given to them for reassessment. Many fear aggressive mining activities in those areas can increase their pollution to critical levels.
Environmentalists claim that most of the coal blocks are located in densely populated areas fearing displacement of thousands of families. “Machhakata and Mahanadi Block has projected 3973 families, Chhendipada I and II will affect 2748 families and Radhikapur east will affect 1187 families as estimated by the earlier allotteess,” Pani said citing official records.
Others claim that the government needs to focus more on renewable energy and ensure compliance of least pollution protocols by miners.
“Indian government was a part of the International Convention on Climate Change in Paris, 2015 where it agreed to shift more to alternative energy forms and reduce conventional energy forms. Government needs to phase out such non-renewable sources of energy like coals through such mining,” SN Patro, environmentalist from the state said.