Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Feb 08, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Feb 08, 2005 |
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Corporate
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Courts/Legal Issues Bombay HC rejects Western Coalfields plea; Durgapur mines shut down Lyla Bavadam
Mumbai , Feb. 7 WESTERN Coalfields Ltd (WCL), one of the eight subsidiary companies of Coal India Ltd, has been forced to shut down operations at its Durgapur Rayatwari Colliery in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra since mid-January. The closure was ordered by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court in response to a public interest litigation filed by the Nature Conservation Society, Amravati. The petitioner stated that WCL was conducting illegal mining operations in a designated reserve forest. Furthermore, the extraction process was by underground mining, which was detrimental to the environment. The court's order to halt production, which was passed in January, was challenged by WCL, which said it had permission to mine in the area. The court gave the company two weeks to reply. On February 2, the company told the two-judge bench that it had "temporary permission" from the MoEF to mine in the area. The Nature Conservation Society objected saying the Reserve Forest status of the area nullified the possibility of "temporary permission." The petitioner also pointed out that the permission was invalid since WCL had not sought if from the State Government under whose responsibility the area was. On February 4, the court gave an interim order in favour of the Nature Conservation Society and rejected WCL's plea. WCL extracts 2,400 tonnes of coal per day from underground mining in its Durgapur colliery. The company, which is headquartered at Nagpur, has mining operations spread over three districts of Maharashtra and three in Madhya Pradesh. Producing about 11.3 per cent of the country's coal, WCL is largely responsible for meeting the fuel requirements of industries and power stations in the western region.
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