National Green Tribunal directs Singaneri Collieries to stop excess coal mining in Telangana

HYDERABAD: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) to stop mining coal in excess quantities — above the quantity permitted in the Environmental Clearance — at its Jalagam Vengal Rao opencast mine.A joint committee was constituted by the NGT to look into various allegations of violations of environmental laws at the coal mine, levelled in a petition against the SCCL. The joint committee reported that the SCCL had been mining coal in excessive quantities for more than a decade.

The NGT, however, directed the joint committee to look further into various aspects and submit a report again to the Tribunal. This includes finding out whether the SCCL was liable to pay compensation for mining coal in excessive quantities — almost double the amount than what was permitted — and also the royalty along with penalty, on the excess coal mined by the company.

The NGT also pulled up the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) for not taking any steps to assess the environmental compensation to be levied on SCCL for mining excess coal, despite knowing about the violation, and asked it to file an action taken report. The TSPCB was supposed to act based on the directions issued by NGT in this regard and also the guidelines issued by the CPCB.