Coal Ministry constitutes Sustainable Development Cell

Ministry of coal has constituted a “Sustainable Development Cell”, in line with the commitment of clean energy.

Key Points

• The Sustainable Development Cell was constituted in the backdrop of Prime Minister’s announcement on new climate targets at COP26 under ‘Panchamrit Strategy’.
• Ministry emphasised on to put major thrust on Sustainable Development in coal mining, by taking care of the environmental and social impact of the mining.

Sustainable Development Cell (SDC)

• Ministry of coal has established a full-fledged Sustainable Development Cell (SDC) to mentor, advice, and plan action of minimising adverse impact of mining.
• It will also formulate future policy framework for environmental mitigation in Coal sector as well as Lignite sector in India.
• Coal India Ltd. (CIL) and its subsidiaries along with NLC India Ltd., & Singareni Coal Company Ltd. (SCCL) has already started the extensive work.

Bio-Reclamation of mined out

• Coal companies have taken up “Bio-Reclamation of mined out land”, in line with the commitment of India of reducing total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes from 2030 onwards.
• Bio-Reclamation is being taken up through tree plantation drive.
• Under this process, companies have target to cover 12000 hectares of land for plantation in next five years.
• Massive tree plantation will help in creating carbon sink potential to the tune of one lakh tonne per annum.
• This effort is being monitored through remote sensing.

First Mile Connectivity (FMC)

FMC initiative was also started by coal companies to minimise environmental pollution. Under this initiative, coal is transported using conveyor belt from Coal Handling Plants to Silo for the purpose of loading. This process does away with the movement of coal through road. 39 such projects have been planned. Projects will be commissioned by 2023-24 with an investment of more than Rs. 13000 Crore. These FMC projects will help in saving diesel worth Rs 2100 crores per annum.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2021