Speaking at the release, Justice Suresh said, “At Singrauli, we met entire communities living in the shadow of coal mine overburdens, with coal dust everywhere. They have given up their land for power that doesn’t reach them, and now have no reliable livelihood and their health has been ruined. This cannot be called development. We cannot continue to ignore the impacts of such large scale ravaging of the land and people without addressing their rights and imposing limits on the environmental degradation we are causing.”
The visit was crucial especially in the context of forest blocks being allotted and given fast track approval for coal mining through the Group of Ministers (GoM). In Singrauli itself, Mahan, Chhatrasal, Amelia and Dongri Tal II forest blocks were earlier categorised as no go but are now awaiting approval from the GoM, due to pressure from the Coal Ministry, the Prime Minister’s Office and their corporate backers.
Officially, 5,872.18 hectares of forest from the Singrauli region have been diverted for non-forest use since the Forest Conservation Act came into force in 1980. According to the Singrauli DFO, another 3,229 hectares are also proposed for forest diversion. This does not account for several instances of encroachment on forest land that have occurred as a result of existing and proposed industrial operations.
Currently, there is immense pressure from the PMO to hand over the Mahaan forests to Essar and Hindalco for captive mining. The former Minister of Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh, has indicated that this forest should not be mined. The total coal reserves in Mahaan, 144 million tonnes, would be able to supply coal to the proposed power plant by Hindalco Industries Limited and Essar Power Limited for only about 14 years. (2)
“Singrauli is the perfect example of lives sacrificed for private profit, justified by false promises of development. There are thousands of hectares of dense forests involved, thousands of tribal and other communities on the edge and the entire ecosystem of the region is at stake. Yet the government is bent on destroying this rich biodiversity for a few more tonnes of low quality coal. Coal India and its subsidiaries are refusing to answer questions on their existing stocks and how efficient their mining operations are, while looking to grab as much of forested India as they can,” said Priya Pillai, policy officer, Greenpeace India.
The five member team visited the villages of Chilika Daad, Dibulganj (near Anpara thermal power plant), Bilwada in Uttar Pradesh part of Singrauli, Moher forest block, Amlori mines, and Nigahi mines in the Singrauli region between 9th and 10th July 2011. The team also met the district administration and representatives from Coal India Limited.
The report is available at: http://www.greenpeace.org/india/Global/india/report/Fact%20finding%20report-%20Singrauli%20Report.pdf
For detailed recommendations please see attachment.
For more details, please contact:
• Priya Pillai, Policy Officer, Greenpeace India, 9999357766, 
• Shachi Chaturvedi, Senior Media Officer, Greenpeace India, 9818750007, 
Notes to the editor:
1. The fact finding team comprised of:
• Retired Justice Suresh Hosbet – Retired justice of the Mumbai High Court and noted human rights voice.
• Kalpana Kannabiran – Noted human rights lawyer and founder member of Asmita Resource Centre for Women, Secunderabad.
• Praranjoy Guha Thakurta – Veteran journalist who has made noted documentaries on mining.
• R Sreedhar – Chairperson, mines , minerals & People, which is a growing alliance of individuals, institutions and communities who are concerned and affected by mining.
2. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Jairam Ramesh says “I am not entirely clear why such a good quality forest area should be broken up for such a partial requirement.” The letter also refers to the fact that the Forest Advisory Committee found the quality of forest and the tree cover to be much higher than claimed by the companies and had not granted forest clearance.
Information snippets from the report:
Singrauli is the ninth highest in the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) amongst 88 highly polluted industrial blocks in the country; its value of 81.73 clearly indicates that the area is critically polluted. In fact reports by Central Pollution Control Board, National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) and the Pollution Control Research Institute (PCRI) of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) clearly indicate ground water pollution in the Singrauli region on account of coal mining.
Moreover, according to an unpublished report by Electricité de France, the power plants in Singrauli release about 720 kilogrammes of mercury every year because of the low quality coal used in the production.
The fact finding team was told in a number of villages and even by high ranking officials in Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL), that given that their visit was during the monsoon season, the air quality was much better. Normally, and especially in summer months, the air quality is very poor. Villagers living in the proximity of ash ponds and mines said that their lives during those months were living hell.
Consequently, the people in Singrauli villages have multiple health problems ranging from respiratory ailments, tuberculosis, skin diseases, polio, joint pains and many instances of sudden drop in energy and ability to carry out normal activities.
The report also highlights how different mining and industrial operations have decimated the village life but none of these operations have taken the responsibility to mitigate the health impacts or provide healthcare and basic facilities. For instance, Chilika Daad village in Shaktinagar of Sonebhadra district in Uttar Pradesh is surrounded by National Coalfield Limited’s (NCL) mine overburden, a railway line carrying coal and National Thermal Power Corporations power plant, each playing a part in contaminating water, polluting air and creating noise beyond acceptable parameters.
In Chilika Daad alone there are 600 families that have been displaced several times by these different projects. The residents were given land deeds but only with the right to live. They can’t sell the land or take loan against it. Now threatened by the huge overburden of the mines barely 50 metres away from the village, unemployment, high levels of pollution and mining blasts, villagers do not have a choice but to continue to bear with the misery.
The fact finding team recommends a moratorium on all mining activities in the forest areas of Singrauli until coal availability in other areas and alternative energy solutions are not assessed. The team also recommends comprehensive human rights assessment of all mining and industrial operations and action on the ground to address the grievances of the people. The team felt that the issue of livelihood of affected communities has remained fundamentally unanswered in Singrauli for decades. On this front it recommended that the administration should look at giving people a genuine option of maintaining their earlier livelihoods by introducing a land-based compensation system, through which agricultural land acquired is replaced by agricultural land elsewhere.