Refinery looks remote as differences between govt, Rajasthan escalate
- Saturday | 11th February, 2017
A district level committee chaired by the collector met on June 19 to identify and formulate projects and outline areas where Rs 5.43 crore were collected from mine owners in each cluster under the environment management fund. In these selected areas the district administration is planning to spend money under EMP. There are a total of 45 mining clusters in Jodhpur area and 27 in Balesar area of which EMPs for 27 and 17 respectively have been approved till now.
In these selected areas the district administration is planning to spend money under EMP. The move has come after a gap of nearly two years. There are a total of 45 mining clusters in Jodhpur area and 27 in Balesar area of which EMPs for 27 and 17 respectively have been approved till now.
Apart from better working conditions, EMP is also aiming for development around mining areas such as repairing roads, plantation on either side of roads in mining areas, provision of safety gear to mineworkers and awareness campaigns. "The revival of spending EMF, which has been lying unutilized since the cluster model, was conceived as a welcoming step. There is hope of some improvement in compliance of environment norms and labour welfare within the unorganized mining sector in Rajasthan," said Rana Sengupta, managing trustee, Mine Labour Protection Campaign.
"It is expected that with Jodhpur setting the precedent, other districts are also bound to follow," he added. The Supreme Court has already mandated environment clearances are required for mines even below 5 hectares from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority. Following this, Rajasthan government issued an amendment to its minor mineral rules in 2012.
This gave birth to the cluster model. Largely seen as a welcome step, the clusters were however criticized for being formed in haste and to "merely fulfill a formality". The amendment was also silent about below 5 ha mines having to obtain individual environment clearances.
The EMPs remained on paper and the EMF was accumulating on the other hand..
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