NLC India Ltd. (NLCIL) has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Vyakti Vikas Kendra India (VVKI), Bengaluru, for a pilot project on land reclamation through rearing of livestock in Mines II.
The MoU was signed by Hemant Kumar, Executive Director of Mines, and Rohit Sikka of VVKI in the presence of Rakesh Kumar, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of NLCIL, and Directors R. Vikraman and Prabhakar Chowki in Neyveli on Friday.
According to an official release, land reclamation works were first taken up in Mines II in 1995-96. About 874.50 hectares has been reclaimed and 670.50 hectares were covered under afforestation programme till March 31, 2019.
NLCIL has proposed to reclaim 70 hectares of land in Mines-II and take up afforestation over 50 hectares this year. At present, NLCIL has been adopting the Integrated Farming (IF) method by planting various types of tree species to restore the pre-mined ecological equilibrium. The land reclamation will be taken up through rearing of livestocks, which entails restoring the land in the shortest period by increasing the biomass of the soil. NLCIL will be adopting a unique approach in land restoration by integrating cattle rearing, watershed development and planned grazing. Once the generation process of the top soil is self-sustaining, it will be gradually replaced by shrubs and dry land trees.
This pilot project has been started on a pilot basis on 36 hectares of land. Of this, 10 hectares of land will be earmarked for growing fodder for cattle while the remaining 25 hectares will be the land reclamation area.
The pilot project will ensure rapid reclamation of land with rapid greening of NLC mine spoil areas by sustainable land restoration through Integrated Natural Resource Management, which will help in less land preparation and maintenance. The locals and rural communities from nearby villages will be trained and deployed to maintain the livestocks, including cultivation of fodder crops to generate employment.