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CENTRAL EMPOWERED COMMITTEE
REPORT DATED 29TH AUGUST 2012 OF THE CEC REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF THE R&R PLANS, RESUMPTION OF MINING OPERATIONS IN “CATEGORY-A” MINING LEASES AND ASSOCIATED ISSUES
This Report deals with the issues related to the implementation of the R & R Plans, resumption of the mining operations in “Category-A” mining leases and associated issues and is being filed pursuant to this Hon’ble Court’s order dated 17th August, 2012 in IA No. ___ of 2012 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 562 of 2009, with IA No. 68 and 103 of 2012 in IA No. 5 of 2011 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 562 of 2009. Mr. Prashant Bhushan, Counsel appearing for the petitioner has, pursuant to the above said order of this Hon’ble Court, filed written submissions dated 20th August, 2012 before the CEC and which were considered during the meeting held by the CEC with him on 21st August, 2012.The CEC, while preparing this Report, has taken into consideration the above said submissions.
BACKGROUND
2.This Hon’ble Court by its order dated 6th May, 2011 directed the constitution of a Joint Team comprising of (i) representative of the Karnataka Forest Department, (ii) representative of Karnataka Mines & Geology Department, (iii) representative of the Karnataka Lokayukta and (iv) Member of CEC and directed it to carry out the survey and demarcation of the 99 mining leases falling in District Bellary. Subsequently in addition to the 99 mining leases earlier directed to be surveyed in District Bellary this Hon’ble Court, by its order dated 26.8.2011, directed the Joint Team to carry out the survey and demarcation of all the mining leases in District Bellary, Tumkur andChitradurga. (Pursuant to this Hon’ble Court’s orders dated 29th July, 2011 and 26th August, 2011, except in two mining leases of M/s NMDC Ltd.,the mining operations in all the mining leases in these three Districts have been suspended).
3.The Joint Team,using “Total Station”, carried out the field survey of 166 mining leases in Districts, Bellary, Tumkur and Chitradurga. The proceedings of the Joint Team, alongwith the survey sketches and satellite imageries, have been filed before this Hon’ble Court. Out of 166 mining leases 19 working leases and 24 non-working leases were found not involved in illegal mining or in marginal illegalities. The remaining 123 mining leases were found to be involved in illegal mining. An area of 1723.63 hectares, outside the sanctioned lease area, was found to have been illegally used and out of which an area of 405.79 hectares and 485.68 hectares was found to have been used, outside the sanctioned mining lease areas, for illegal mining pits and illegal over burden dumps respectively.
4.The CEC, pursuant to this Hon’ble Court’s order dated 23rd September, 2011, reviewed the findings of the Joint Team during the hearings held from 28th November, 2011 to 1st December, 2011, 15th December, 2011 and 19th December, 2011 to 23rd December, 2011 and a meeting on 29th December, 2011. The hearings were held in respect of all the mining leases found to be involved in illegal mining including for those leases who till then had not filed any representations before the CEC. The CEC, after considering the written submissions and the issues raised during the hearings, prima facie found merit in respect of 33 leases and after carrying out site visitreviewed and finalized the findings of the Joint Team in respect of these 33 leases.
5.The CEC, based on the extent of illegal mining found,has classified the mining leases into three categories, namely “Category-A’, “Category-B” and “Category-C”. The “Category-“A” comprises of 21 working mining leases and 24 non-working mining leases and wherein no illegalities/marginal illegalities have been found. The “Category-B” comprises of 61 mining leases wherein illegal mining by way of (i) mining pits outside the sanctioned lease areas have been found to be up to 10 % of the lease areasand / or (ii) illegal over burden/waste dumps outside the sanctioned lease areashave been found to be upto 15% of the lease areas. It also includes (a) seven leases falling on the inter-State boundary between the State of Karnataka and the State of Andhra Pradesh and for which survey sketches have not been finalized (the inter-State boundary has not been finalized so far) and (b) four other leases for specific reasons mentioned in the statement of “Category-B” leases. The total number of leasesin “Category-B” thus is 72 (61+7+4).The mining leases in “Category-C” comprises of leases wherein the illegal mining by way of mining pits outside the sanctioned lease have been found to be more than 10% of the lease area(33 leases)and or the area under illegal over burden/waste dumps outside the sanctioned lease areas have been found to be more than 15% of the lease area (8 leases). It also includes the eight other leases which are found to have flagrantly violated the Forest (Conservation) Act and / or found to have been involved in substantial illegal mining in other lease areas. The total number of mining leases in “Category-C” thus is 49 (33+8+8).The details of the leases which fall in “Category- A”, “Category-B” and “Category-C” are given in Annexure R-9, Annexure R-10 and Annexure R-11 respectively of the CEC Report (Final) dated 3rdFebruary, 2012.
6.Pursuant to this Hon’ble Court order dated 10th February, 2012, as many as 66 representations pertaining to the observations/recommendations made by the CEC in its Report (Final) dated 3rd February, 2012 were filed before the CEC. The Report of the CEC dated 3rd March, 2012 contains its observations on these representations. The CEC found merit in the issues raised in the representations pertaining to 4 mining leases and the survey sketches of these 4 mining leases have accordingly been modified. However there has been no changewith regard to the Category of these mining leases. The issues raised in the case of two of the mining leases kept in “Category-C” and two representations which have been filed against the two leases kept in “Category-A” have been submitted to this Hon’ble Court for its consideration. The CEC did not find any merit in the remaining 58 representations.
7.The CEC, pursuant to this Hon’ble Court order dated 10th February, 2012, has filed its Report (Supplementary) dated 13th March, 2012 containing draft “Guidelines for the preparation and implementation of the R&R Plans” for the consideration of this Hon’ble Court. These guidelines have been approved by this Hon’ble Court by its order dated 13th April, 2012. The salient features of these Guidelines are:
i)for “Category-A” mining leases i.e. the mining leases not found to be involved in illegal mining, the leasewise R&R Plans will primarily comprise of Supplementary Environment Management Plan (SEMP). For“Category-B” and “Category-C” mining leases i.e. leases found to be involved in illegal mining, the leasewise R&R Plans will comprise of (a) R&R Plans for areas under illegal mining and (b) Supplementary Environment Management Plan.In addition to the lease-wise R&R Plans, “Comprehensive Environment Plan for Mining Impact Zone (CEPMIZ)” will be prepared for the areas surrounding the mining leases;
ii)the lease wise R&R Plans for areas found to be under the illegal mining will provide for:
a)filling up of the illegal mining pits with the existing over burden waste / dump (preferably the illegal dumps);
b)soil and conservation measures to stabilise the area of the illegal mining pits;
c)afforestation with the indigenous species;
d)removal of illegal over burden dumps and its scientific disposal within the lease area of the encroacher (wherever found environmentally feasible); and
e)in other cases stabilization of the illegal over burden / waste dumps by modifying the gradient of the dump, construction of retaining walls, gully plugs and garland drains, geo-metric / geo-matting of dumps, afforestation and soil conservation measures.
iii)in the areas found to be under illegal mining (except the areas falling in the sanctioned lease areas of the adjoining lessees), the mining operations will be prohibited for next ten years to ensure that such areas are properly rehabilitated;
iv)the lease wise Supplementary Environment Management Plan (SEMP), to ensure environmentally sustainable mining, will provide for:
- permissible annual production;
- stabilization of the existing over burden dumps;
- plan for proper gradient and other protection measures for the active over burden dumps;
- afforestation, soil and water conservation measures and other protective measures; and
- pre determined parameters for assessing the successful implementation of various provisions / prescription provided in the R&R Plans;
v)the Comprehensive Environment Plan for Mining Impact Zone (CEPMIZ) for the areas surrounding the mining leases will have:
a)Bio-diversity Conservation Plan;
b)Afforestation and Soil Moisture Conservation Plan;
c) Physical Infrastructure Development Plan;
d) Social Infrastructure Development Plan; and
e)Regional Monitoring Plan and Mechanism.
vi)the existing environment clearances, approved mining plans, the Consent to Operate and other statutory approvals will stand modified to reflect the permissible annual production prescribed in the R&R Plans for each of the mining leases. The prescriptions / provisions of the Supplementary Environmental Safeguards Plans (SESP) will be binding on the respective lessees and will be considered as a part of the approved Mining Plans / EMPs;
vii)in the event of the failure of the lessee to implement the prescription of the SEMP within the stipulated time, the Monitoring Committee is authorized to suspend the mining operations including transportation or to reduce the permissible annual production till the remedial measures are taken by the lessee and are found acceptable by the Monitoring Committee (constituted by this Hon’ble Court). The decision of the Monitoring Committee will be binding on the lessee;
viii)in respect of some of the leases on account of (a) relatively smaller lease area (b) being located in environmentally sensitive areas (c) inadequate mineral reserves (d) inadequate area available for over burden / waste dumps (e) lack of infrastructure facilities and (f) other environmental considerations, the mining operations may not be environmentally feasible / sustainable. The R&R Plans for such leases will provide for determination of the leases or amalgamation of two or more leases (if found feasible); and
ix)the R&R Plans will fix the permissible annual production for each of the mining lease and which may be substantially lower than what is permissible as per the environment clearance and / or approved Mining Plan and / or consent to operate granted for the respective mining leases. For this purpose, the annual production feasible would be determined on the basis of the (a) mineral reserves in the lease area (b) area available for over burden / waste dump(s) and sub grade dump(s) and (c) existing transport facilities vis-à-vis traffic load of the mining lease and adjoining mining leases. The permissible annual production would be the minimum of the quantity that may be feasible based on the above three parameters. However, if the sum total of the lease wise annual production exceeds the ceiling fixed for the annual production from all the leases in the District then in that case the lease wise permissible annual production will be reduced on pro rata basis in such ratio so as to ensure that the ceiling for the District is not exceeded; and
x)the Monitoring Committee will be responsible for monitoring the effective and timely implementation of the provisions of the R&R Plans. The lessees will be responsible for the timely implementation of the R&R Plans and in case they fail to do so, the same will be implemented by the State of Karnataka and at the cost of the concerned lessees.
8.This Hon’ble Court by its order dated 13th April, 2012 after considering the CEC Report (Supplementary) dated 13th March, 2012 has approved the “Guidelines for the preparation of the R&R Plans”. A ceiling of 30 MMT, break up being25 MMT for total production of iron ore from the mining leases in District Billary and 5 MMT from all the mining leases in Districts Chitradurga and Tumkur, has been prescribed. The leasewise survey sketches prepared by the Joint Team and as modified by the CEC has been accepted by this Hon’ble Court by its order dated 13th April, 2012 and directed to be followed by the concerned authorities and the respective lessees, notwithstanding anything to the contrary and the boundaries of the mining leases have been directed to be fixed accordingly on the ground. It has also been directed that the sale of the iron ore should continue to be through e-auction by the Monitoring Committee. The Monitoring Committee has been made responsible to monitor the implementation of the R&R Plans and to ensure strict compliance of the conditions of the statutory clearances. The mining operations in the two leases of M/s NMDC Ltd. have, in the larger public interest, been permitted to be continued.
9.This Hon’ble Court, after considering the CEC Report dated 18th April, 2012, by its order dated 20th April, 2012 permitted the mining operations to be re-started in respect of the mining leases falling in “Category-A” after the R&R Plans for the respective mining leases are prepared, the lessees give an undertaking to strictly comply with the prescriptions/provisions of the R&R Plans, the mining lease is physically demarcated on the ground as per the findings of the Joint Team and subject to the lessees having all the statutory approvals.It was also directed that the mining operations shall not extend to the unbroken forest areas. This Hon’ble Court, after considering the submissions made by the CEC through the learned Amicus Curiae that the preparation and implementation of the R&R Plans (which legally is part of the mining operations) is likely to involve the use of unbroken forest areas in a number of cases particularly for stabilization of overburden dumps and for the rectification of the existing mining pits, has by its order dated 4th May, 2012 granted liberty to the CEC to take all the requisite steps with reference to the implementation of the R&R Plans. The CEC has prescribed that in the R&R Plans new mining pits should not be permitted. However the R&R Plans for a number of leases provide for use of unbroken forest areas for overburden dumps and existing mining pits.
10.This Hon’ble Court by its order dated 17th August, 2012 has directed the State Government of Karnataka and all other statutory authorities and bodies to extend full cooperation for the effective implementation of the recommendations/observations made by the CEC in its Report dated 16th August, 2012. This Hon’ble Court has also directed the CEC to file a comprehensive Report on the question of resumption of mining operations in “Category-A” mining leases and which shall inter alia give a schedule indicating the period within which all statutory compliances would be made and the R&R Plans/Schemes effectively implemented and that then only this Hon’ble Court may consider to grant permission for resumption of mining operations in such mining leases.
11.The Director, Mines and Geology, Government of Karnataka has vide letter dated 16th August, 2012 permitted the resumption of mining operations in respect of M/s Mineral Entrepreneur Ltd. (Ml 2346) for permissible annual production of 0.38 MMT. This permission has been granted after the approval of the R&R Plans, demarcation of the lease boundary and after all the statutory approvals had been obtained by the lessee. However, in view of this Hon’ble Court’s order dated 17th August, 2012, the said permission has been withdrawn on 18th August, 2012.
STATUS OF PREPARATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE R&R PLANS AND STATUTORY APPROVALS
12.The State of Karnataka has,through the ICFRE, undertaken the work of the preparation of the leasewise R&R Plans. Till date R&R Plans have been prepared for 18 leases falling in “Category- A” and three leases falling in Category-B” and which have also been approved by the CEC. The leasewise details are given at ANNEXURE-R-1 to this Report.
13.The leasewise details of the status of the statutory approvals for 18 “Category-A” mining leases and 3 “Category-B” mining leases and for which R & R Plans have been prepared and approved are given at ANEXURE-R-2 to this Report. The relevant abstract of these mining leases is as under:
S. No. / Classification / No. of leases / Permissible Annual Production of iron ore (in MMT) / Progressive total of permissible annual production of iron ore (in MMT)CATEGORY A
1. / Leases having all statutory approvals
(refer Note 1) / 1 / 0.38 / 0.38
2. / Leases which may within one month obtain pending statutory approvals / 2 / 0.94 / 1.32
3. / Leases which may within two months obtain pending statutory approvals / 5 / 2.31 / 3.63
4. / Leases which may within three months obtain pending statutory approvals / 2 / 0.74
(+0.1874 Mn) / 4.37
5. / Leases which may within six month obtain pending statutory approvals / 1 / 0.13 / 4.50
6. / Leases which may after more than one year obtain pending statutory approvals / 1 / -
(0.06 Mn) / 4.50
7. / Mining leases not willing to obtain statutory approvals
(refer Note 2) / 1 / 0.032 / 4.53
8. / Mining leases currently not eligible to re-start (refer Note 3) / 5 / 2.43
(+ 1 MMT beneficiation plant) / 6.96
Total / 18 / 6.96 / 6.96
CATEGORY B
9. / Leases which may within one month obtain pending statutory approvals / 1 / 0.41 / 0.41
10. / Leases which may after more than one year obtain pending statutory approvals (refer note 4) / 2 / 2.93 / 3.34
Total / 3 / 3.34 / 3.34
GRAND TOTAL / 21 / 10.30 / 10.30
(+ 0.2474 Mn)
Note: 1 - Statutory approvals valid upto 6th May, 2012. Fresh statutory