ROURKELA: A public hearing for environment clearance for Ghogharpali and its Dip Extension coal block of Vedanta Ltd was conducted by the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) at Ghogharpali village in Hemgir block on Friday.
While a section of the villagers supported the upcoming mining project, another section opposed it and demanded such public hearing should be held only after consent of the gram sabha concerned. Nonetheless, the district administration declared the public hearing to be successful.
Sources said Sundargarh ADM (Revenue) Abhimanyu Majhi accompanied by the regional officer of the OSPCB HK Nayak conducted the environmental public hearing.
Leader of project affected persons Rajendra Naik claimed that villagers opposed the coal mine project as it was held without prior approval of the gram sabha and locals were not allowed to place their grievances. A year ago, during gram sabha meeting for land acquisition, a clash had erupted between two groups and since then the approval is pending, he said adding, the affected villagers were kept in the dark by the administration and company management. Without gram sabha approval as per the provisions of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, the public hearing proceedings were invalid, they said.
The ADM said suggestions and reservations of both sides were collected and an appropriate report would be submitted to the government. He claimed that the public hearing completed successfully and said those opposing the move raised issues of compensation employment as well as rehabilitation and resettlement.
During 2022-23, Vedanta was declared the highest bidder for the coal block by the Ministry of Coal. The ministry in June 2024 allotted the coal block to Vedanta.
The open-cast coal mining project envisages 20 million tone per annum capacity extraction over 1,418.595 hectare. The project area is envisioned to have net extractable reserves of 554.26 million tonne over 30 years. The company has applied for diversion of 617.233 hectare forest land. About 650 families comprising 2,114 people are estimated to be affected and the project cost is around Rs 2,746 crore.