F. No, 8-60/1994-FC Government of India Ministry of Environment and Forests (C Division) ParyavaranBhawan, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 110510 Dated: 30! July, 2015 To The Principal Secretary (Forests), Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. Sub: Diversion of 74.81 ha of forest land for open cast mining of coal from Rohini OCP in favour of M/s Central Coal field Limited (CCL) in Ranchi District of Jharkhand, Sir, 1 am directed to refer to the State Government's letter no. no. 3 / VanBhumi - 77 / 2009 / 2176/ VP dated 19.06.2010 on the subject mentioned above seeking prior approval of the Central Government under Section-2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. After careful examination of the proposal by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) constituted ‘under section-3 of the said Act, ‘in-principle* approval was granted vide this Ministry's letier of even number dated 24% January, 2013 subject to fulfilment of certain conditions prescribed therein. The State Government has furnished compliance report in respect of the conditions stipulated in the ‘in-principle’ approval and has requested the Central Government to grant final approval. In this connection, I am directed to say that on the basis of the compliance report furnished by the State Govemment vide letter no. no. 3 / VanBhumi - 77 / 2009 / 3604/ VP dated 4.09.2013, 18.09.2014 and 15.06.2015, final approval of the Central Government under Section ~ 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 is hereby granted for diversion of 74.81.ha of forest land for open cast mining of coal from Rohini OCP in favour of M/s Central Coal field Limited (CCL) in Ranchi District of Jharkhand subject to fulfilment of the following conditions: 1, Legal status of the diverted forest land shall remain unchanged, 2. Compensatory afforestation over the degraded forest land, twice in extent to the forest land being diverted, shall be raised and maintained by the State Forest Department from the funds already provided by the user agency; 3. Following activities shall be undertaken by the user agency for the management of safety zone: (@) User agency shall ensure demarcation of boundary of safety zone (7.5 meter strip all along the outer boundary of the mining lease area), and its protection by erecting adequate number of 4 feet high RCC boundary pillars inscribed with DGPS coordinates and deploying adequate number of watchers under the supervision of the State Forest Department. (b) In case the mining leases adjoins the habitation stretch, the boundary of the safery one of the lease adjacent to the habitation/roads should be properly fenced by the user agency at the project cost to protect the vegetation /regeneration activities in =)10. ML the safety zone. (©) Safety zone shall be maintained as green belt around the mining lease and to ensure dense canopy cover in the area, regeneration shall be taken in this area by the user agency at the project cost under the supervision of the State Forest Department. (@ Afforestation on degraded forest land, to be selected elsewhere, measuring one and a half times the area under safety zone shall also be done by the user agency atthe project cost under the supervision of the State Forest Department. Following activities shall be undertaken as per the recommendation of the study carried out by CMPDIL end submitted with compliance report by the user agency under the supervision of the State Forest Department: (0) Mitigative measures to minimize soil erosion and choking of streams shall be implemented in accordance with the approved Plan in consultation with the State Forest Department. (b) Planting of adequate drought hardy plant species end sowing of seeds to arrest soil erosion. (©) Construction of check dams, retention/toe walls to arrest sliding down of the ‘excavated material along the contour. (4) No damage shall be caused to the top-soil and the user agency will follow the top soil manegement plan. (©) Ample care shall be taken white reclaiming the mined area by employing suitable top soil management scheme and ensuring plantation of native species of the area. (8) Stabilize the overburden dumps by appropriate grading/benching so as to ensure the angle of repose at any given place is less than 28 degrees. Wherever possible and technically feasible, the User Agency shell undertake, by involving local community, the afforestation measures in the blanks within the lease area, as well as along the roads outside the lease area diverted under this approval, in consultation with the State Forest Department at the project cost; ‘The period of diversion of the said forest land under this approval shall be for a period co-terminus with the period of the mining lease proposed to be granted under the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulating) Act, 1957, as amended or Rules framed there under; ‘The User Agency shal! pay the additional NPV, if so determined, as per the final decision of Hon'ble Supreme Cour of India; ‘The user agency to explore the possibility of dumping the OB from the proposed mine in the already existing voids or voids being created due to mining in other adjacent mines of the user agency; “The suggestion made by the team of experts in their report to evaluate the reclamation ‘work done in last one decade and submit its report with the compliance report shall be abide by the user agency; ‘As CCL, the user agency for Rohini OCP, is operating large numbers of mines in the North Karanpura coal fields, they will take up plantation in all the available areas in the North Karanpura coalfields including soil and moisture conservation measures under the supervision and advice of the Forest Department; Sexe)12, The user agency shall contribute proportionately for the Regional Wildlife "Management Plan which is under preparation; 13, The User agency will reclaim and surrender all areas which were handed over to them 20 years back; 14. Any tree felling shail be done only when it is unavoidable under strict supervision of the State Forest Department; 15. No labour camps shall be set up inside the forest area: 16. No damage to the flora and fauna of the area shall be caused; 17. The forest Jand shall not be used for any purpose other than that specified in the proposal; 18. The user agency will obtain environmental clearance and any other clearances required for such project, if required; 19. Any other condition that the Addl. PCCF (Central), Regional Office, Bhubaneshwar, ‘may impose from time to time for the protection and improvement of flora and fauna in the forest area; 20. The user agency shall submit the annual self compliance report in respect of the above conditions to the State Government and to the concerned Regional Office of the Ministry regularly; and 21, The User Agency and the State Goverament shall ensure strict compliance of all conditions of Stage-I approval for which undertakings have been obtained from the Project proponent and also compliance to provisions of the all Acts, Rules, Regulations and Guidelines, for the time being in force, as applicable to the project. ‘Yours faithfully, . CNautiyal) Assistant Inspector General of Forests Copy to:- 1. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi 2. The Nodal Officer, Office of the PCCF, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. 3. The Addl. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Regional Office (MoEF&CC), Ranchi. 4. User Agency (CCL), 5. Monitoring Cell, FC Division. 6. Guard file. NS C. Nautiyal) Assistant Inspector General of Forests