The Hindu Business Line : Coal India seeks permission to return used land

Coal India Ltd has approached the Centre seeking amendment in the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957 to help the company return the used land to the society for other usage.

While a detailed picture will emerge shortly, according to a quick estimate, the existing provisions of the act had forced Coal India to unwillingly possess approximately 30,000 hectare of land, which is no longer required for the company’s mining activities.

“We have in our possession approximately 1.5 lakh hectares of land. We guess roughly 20 per cent of the same is already used and is no longer required by CIL. However, the Act does come in the way of releasing the land back to the society for other usage,” the Chairman, Mr Partha S. Bhattacharyya, told newspersons on Saturday.

While preliminary discussions are already held with the Centre underlining the need for amendment of the Act, the company appointed a committee last week to asses the quantity of such used land for making a detailed presentation before the Ministry.

The report is expected within a month.

The company’s emphasis on handing over used land is understandably linked to the ambitions that the 11th Plan targets for coal production, requiring acquisition of 67,000 acres of fresh land for mining purposes.

Stalling practices

Taking a queue from delay in embarking on number of new projects due to land acquisition delays and the increasing controversies concerning land acquisition, Coal India has been actively campaigning for socially sustainable mining practices underlining the need for wider contribution in rehabilitation and re-settlement of the communities affected due to mining industry.

A proposal has already been submitted before the Coal Ministry underling the need for greater contribution towards lives of people in the mining areas other than the existing practice of offering job to a handful of landowners.

“Once the legal hurdles are removed, a mechanism should be created to encourage re-use of land for the benefit of society,” Mr Bhattacharyya said.

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Coal India seeks permission to return used land