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7.0 Details of Last Public Hearing The last public hearing for approval of 35.0 MTPA project was held on 22.08.2008 at the project site. The meeting was chaired by Addl. District Collector, Korba and was attended by 150 other local populations. Details of Public Hearing is given below in table – 7.1

Table – 7.1

Sl. No. STATEMENT OF MAIN ISSUES

RAISED BY PUBLIC REPLY/COMMENTS OF PROJECT PROPONENT

01 Land acquisition be done under the State Land Acquisition Rules and employment facilities be made available as per State R&R Policy.

Coal industry acquires land under CBA (A&D) Act of 1957. However, Rehabilitation and employment policy shall be adopted in consultation with Chattisgarh state government for the proposed expansion.

02 From all the pattadharis of the village, one employment has to be given according to their respective qualifications. The rehabilitation facilities should be provided as per Chattisgarh Govt. rehabilitation policy.

SECL, Gevra area shall adopt rehabilitation packages in consultation with Chattisgarh state government, hence eligibility of employment shall be governed by the said act.

03 In all the rehabilitation villages, necessary education facilities like primary & middle school should be provided as per govt. norms.

Educational facilities as per the R&R policy shall be followed in rehabilitation villages. SECL, Gevra area has in the past given due care to the educational need of the rehabilitated families by providing primary and secondary schools in the rehabilitation sites.

04 Due to expansion in production, there will be increase in dust pollution.

The project has been prepared in such a way the air pollution is minimized. The various measures adopted for the same are listed below:

1. Introduction of surface miner for coal production will eliminate the need for drilling, blasting & crushing i.e. the sources of generation of coal dust. The in-built water spraying system shall suppress any dust which might be generated during coal cutting.

2. Extensive use of belt conveyor (within mine area) for transportation of coal will reduce dust generation due to movement of coal tippers.

3. Introduction of 240 MT dumpers and 42 m3

shovels will reduce the number of trips of dumper carrying OB.

4. More water spraying arrangements and introduction of higher capacity water tankers for dust suppression in haul roads.

5. Plantation around quarry area wherever possible.

05 Compensation of the land should be minimum Rs. 5.00 Lakhs per acre.

SECL will procure land for proposed Gevra expansion project under the CBA (A&D) act 1957. Therefore land compensation will be made as per the stipulated guideline contained in the act. The compensation shall

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Sl. No. STATEMENT OF MAIN ISSUES

RAISED BY PUBLIC REPLY/COMMENTS OF PROJECT PROPONENT

be made on the basis of fair market rate with 30% solatium at the time of making compensation OR the market rate of tha land prices at the time of the notification of the proposed land under section 4(i) of CBA (A&D) act with 30% soaltium, annual interest rates, escalation etc. as per the provisions of the act. The fair market price of the land shall be collected from the office of the Dy. Registrar, Katghora which is a state revenue dept.

06 SECL Gevra has violated the provision of EIA Notification 2006

SECL Gevra OCP had submitted application to the MoEF, New Delhi for environmental clearance to produce 35 MTY in august 2005 under the SO 942 (E) dt. 4.7.2005. The application is still pending with the MoEF. In the meantime, Government of India issued the EIA 2006 notification in September 2006 and the whole procedure of environmental clearance had to be complied with afresh. The project had complied with requirements to secure environmental clearance and hence there is no violation of environmental statutes. It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Coal, Govt. of India vide letter no. 43011-38(4) – 2005, dt. 4.5.2005 has already conveyed the approval of Hon’ble President of India regarding emergent increase in coal production by another 10 MT from Gevra OCP. To achieve the above target, SECL management has set a target of annual increase in coal production by 2 MT per year from Gevra OCP.

07 Due to expansion of Gevra OCP, nearby agricultural land will be affected.

Anticipating the adverse effect that might arise, the expansion project has already proposed a safety zone of width as per mining statutes between the limit of excavation and the acquired land.

08 SECL management shall provide free-of-cost medical facilities to all the affected villagers at SECL’s hospitals.

SECL Gevra area shall provide employment to eligible candidates along with their dependants being given free medical facilities. In addition to this, medical camps are conducted in nearby villages regularly where free medical treatment and medicines are provided to the people who need medical care.

09 Due to expansion, the ground water level will decrease in nearby villages which will create a shortage of drinking water.

To take care of the drinking water issues, SECL provides hand pumps and deep tube wells with pumps. During summer season, water tankers with drinking water are being supplied.

10 Due to expansion in production, there will be extreme traffic pressure for which the existing roads are not sufficient enough to cater to the same. It would be better to establish a separate road for coal transportation.

Gevra project will dispatch about 90% of its coal through rail to NTPC Korba and to different govt. power houses of various states including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra etc. The remaining 10% of coal will be dispatched by road.

11 Due to blasting, cracks have developed in a number of

In Gevra expansion project, it is proposed that the coal; will be produced by new technology i.e. by surface

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Sl. No. STATEMENT OF MAIN ISSUES

RAISED BY PUBLIC REPLY/COMMENTS OF PROJECT PROPONENT

houses. During the blasting operations, the mine management should adopt safe methods to prevent the effects of blasting.

miner. By using this technology, Drilling, Blasting & crushing of coal will be totally eliminated. During blasting in OB,. All the safety instructions, & guidelines issued by the DGMS are strictly followed.

12 It is the question mark for the existence of EIA notification 2006, the mine capacity has been increased without obtaining prior environmental clearance.

SECL Gevra OCP had submitted application to the MoEF, New Delhi for environmental clearance to produce 35 MTY in august 2005 under the SO 942 (E) dt. 4.7.2005. The application is still pending with the MoEF. In the meantime, Government of India issued the EIA 2006 notification in September 2006 and the whole procedure of environmental clearance had to be complied with afresh. The project had complied with requirements to secure environmental clearance and hence there is no violation of environmental statutes. It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Coal, Govt. of India vide letter no. 43011-38(4) – 2005, dt. 4.5.2005 has already conveyed the approval of Hon’ble President of India regarding emergent increase in coal production by another 10 MT from Gevra OCP. To achieve the above target, SECL management has set a target of annual increase in coal production by 2 MT per year from Gevra OCP.

13 The employment & compensation should be provided first to the land oustees of Gevra project.

SECL Gevra area shall make compensation to land oustees once the land records are handed over to the Gevra area by the state government. The compensation shall be made as early as possible. For providing employment to the eligible land owners, immediate steps shall be taken for the applicants submitting all necessary required documents and papers. State authorities shall also be requested to identify the eligible applicants at the earliest as per norms and clear verification of employment applications from their side as soon as possible.

14 Electricity, water, medical and other facilities should be provided.

Electricity, water, medical and other facilities shall be provided by SECL, Gevra area al the rehabilitation sites, in consultation with the rehabilitation & resettlement policy of the state govt.

15 The roads are being damaged due to plying of over-loaded coal trucks and accidents are taking place.

Gevra project will dispatch about 90% of its coal through rail to NTPC Korba and to different govt. power houses of various states including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra etc. Only the remaining 10% of coal will be dispatched by road. Hence, very less percentage of coal is being transported by road outside the mine acquired area. Also the trucks are loaded as per their carrying capacity declared by the RTO. Therefore the question of overloading the trucks by the Gevra project does not arise.

16 Rehabilitation policy is against the larger interest of the public.

Rehabilitation policy to be adopted as per the advice of State Govt. shall cater to the larger needs of the affected

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Sl. No. STATEMENT OF MAIN ISSUES

RAISED BY PUBLIC REPLY/COMMENTS OF PROJECT PROPONENT

people.

17 Proper rehabilitation facilities are not being provided to the affected land oustees.

SECL Gevra area has started its activities nearly 25 to 26 years back and land oustees have been provided with resettlement and rehabilitation facilities subsequently at 3 rehabilitation sites i.e. Vijay nagar, Ganga nagar and Nehru nagar. The following facilities have been provided. Tarred approach road, internal road, primary schools, well, tube wells, community center, ponds, dispensary, electric poles with overhead wires, nullah & culvert, public stage, playground, bus-stop, weekly market etc. In addition to the above, in the last 3 years, the several jobs have been taken up at the R&R sites as per the list enclosed. Therefore, it can be established as a fact that SECL Gevra area has provided all the basic facilities at its rehabilitation sites. However, at present, rehabilitation and resettlement for proposed expansion shall be made in consultation with the state government.

18 What arrangements are being made by the management in order to protect the plantation?

The existing practice of afforestation is planting and maintenance of saplings through government of Chattisgarh undertaking i.e. CGRVVN for a period of 3 years.

19 Data provided by the management regarding plantation is incorrect.

As per the available records, the number of saplings planted since 1986 is 36.98 lakhs. The plantation job is being done by the state govt. organization i.e. state Van Vikas nigam with 3 years of maintenance. It is seen that societal pressure has resulted in depletion of planted trees by miscreants.

20 More and more plantation should be done.

Gevra area is aware of the necessity of plantation for the protection of environment. Therefore, every year plantation job is assigned to CGRVVN Ltd. Depending upon the availability of land, plantation is done and will also be carried out in the future.

21 For imparting the technical education to the villagers, technical institutes such as ITI etc. should be managed by the SECL management.

SECL as a whole has already taken up the issue of imparting technical education to the local people and as a result has donated a huge amount of money for the establishment of an engineering college at Korba.

22 05 nos. of fruit bearing plants should be provided at each house of the affected villages.

SECL Gevra area will certainly provide 05 nos. of fruit bearing trees to the willing families who will plant them in and around Gevra area.