BHUBANESWAR: The Ministry of Coal has requested the Environment Ministry for inclusion of five coal mine pit lakes in four coal bearing States including Odisha in Ramsar List.The suitability of coal mine pit lakes for inclusion in Ramsar List was discussed with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the nodal Ministry for identification of wet lands for placing on the Ramsar list.
As per the guidance of MoEFCC, CIL has identified five pit lakes in the States of Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh for consideration of including in Ramsar list. CIL is in process of preparing Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS).
These mine pit water bodies are regularly visited by different species of birds and also has avifauna population. The environment around these water bodies has ameliorated due to the efforts of CIL through large-scale plantation and other soil moisture conservation activities, said a statement from the Coal Ministry.
The Coal Ministry is seeking support and assistance of World Bank, GIZ and other global institutions for re-purposing of abandoned mine sites to make them safe, environmentally stable and suitable for appropriate commercial usage.
Reclaimed lands will be reused for economic usage such as solar parks, tourism, sports, forestry, agriculture, horticulture, and townships. Vast experience of these institutions in handling mine closure cases in different countries will be highly beneficial and will facilitate adoption of best global practices in repurposing abandoned coal mine sites.
Apart from fulfilling the fast escalating energy demands by augmenting coal production, the CIL is also taking various initiatives towards adopting the path of sustainable development with emphasis on care for environment and host of measures to protect forests and bio-diversity.
As part of various sustainable activities, CIL has under taken conservation of coal mine pit lakes, maintenance of ecological character of wet lands and inclusion of such pit lakes in prestigious Ramsar List with the assistance of respective State governments and MoEFCC.