Date | Dec 26, 2016:
Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) Government of India has rejected the proposal of Manganese Ore India Limited (MOIL) to increase production capacity of Manganese Ore for opencast and underground mining at Kandri Manganese Mine in Kandri village in Ramtek Tehsil.
The decision was taken in the Environment Impact Assessment Committee meeting held recently. This is a setback for MOIL which is trying to improve its production capacity and profitability.
The total cost of the project is Rs 28 crore for implementation of expansion of production. The mining permission has been approved from Indian Bureau of Mines (with a proposed production capacity of 1,00,000 TPA clean Manganese ore).
The mining lease consists of 83.0646 hectare out of which the protected forest is 24.82 hectare while Zudpi Jungle is 13 hectare, Revenue land is 32.61 hectare and private Land is 12.63 hectare.
The proposal was deferred as the mine lease area falls within 10 km radius of Pench Wildlife Sanctuary and Tiger Reserve and clearance from National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) was not obtained by the company. A site of archeological importance exists within 10 kms radius of the mine area and also there are various places of worship, tourist interest importance exists in 15 kms radius of the project, the EIAC stated.
In the public hearing, the participants expressed their willingness for the proposed enhancement in the production of manganese ore, as there will be more generation of employment.
MOIL immediately agreed to sort out issues regarding road development, water supply and pollution. The committee directed MOIL to obtain NBWL clearance for Pench Wildlife Sanctuary. The committee noted that ground water intersection has already taken place in the mine lease area and Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) approval was not obtained.
Therefore, the committee directed it to obtain CGWA permission. As per proposal, the MOIL would be generating 4,02,920 tonnes of production achieved from underground (60%), opencast mining (30%) operations and dump recovery (10 %).
It is estimated that 1.23 Million waste will be generated during the mining scheme period.
(Source: http://thehitavada.com/)