(a) whether the Government has set up an expert Committee to find out
the mining companies including coal sector, who have failed to start
mining despite giving clearances and to strengthen the monitoring
process in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the number of proposals that are
pending with the Committee, State-wise, company-wise; and
(c) the time by which the said proposals are likely to be cleared?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT AND
FORESTS (SHRIMATI JAYANTHI NATARAJAN):
(a) to (c) The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has
notified EIA Notification 2006 under the Environment (Protection) Act,
1986 which deals with the process to grant environmental clearances. Expert
Appraisal Committees for different sectors have been constituted for appraisal
of sector specific projects.
Based on the recommendations of the Expert Appraisal Committee, the
environmental clearance is accorded subject to various conditions and
environmental safeguards to be implemented by the project proponent. The
implementation of the stipulated conditions is monitored through the six
Regional Offices of MoEF located at Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, Chandigarh,
Lucknow and Shillong.
The State-wise details of project proposals, relating to coal mining sector
and non-coal mining sector, pending for environmental clearance are annexed
as Annexure – I.