Under a moratorium of sorts for the past four years, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has resumed appraisal and clearance of iron ore mining projects in the Saranda forest division, Jharkhand, home to rich Sal forests, vast reserves of iron ore and over 200 elephants. In light of the findings of Justice MB Shah inquiry commission on illegal mining in Saranda, MoEFCC had frozen the clearance process for mines in the region and even clearances granted prior to the commission’s findings. The findings also prompted the Central Bureau of Investigation to initiate a probe into the forest clearances granted for private mining companies.

Based on Shah commission’s findings, MoEFCC commissioned two major studies, one to assess the carrying capacity of the forest for annual ore production and one on wildlife management.

The ministry recently accepted recommendations from these studies and finalized a mining plan for the Saranda region, official documents confirmed. This plan does not include ‘go, no-go zones’ and appraisal of projects would be done on a case-to-case basis, Ajay Narayan Jha, secretary, MoEFCC told DNA.

Following this plan’s approval, the ministry’s statutory expert body, Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), has already given an in-principal approval for Steel Authority of India’s (SAIL) Jhillingburu - I mine that will require 210.56 hectares of forest. The FAC has granted approval with general, standard and specific conditions including a condition to place the project before the National Board for Wildlife for a wildlife clearance as it is located in the core of Singhbum elephant reserve.

“The state government shall ensure that various mines are worked in such a way that the required elephant corridors and vegetation zones are maintained without any disturbances,” one of the specific conditions said. It also said that no mining will be done along Karo River within 250 metres from bank of Karo River.

The Justice Shah commission found irregularities in mining operations in Saranda and even questioned environmental clearances for projects in the region. Based on Shah commission, MoEFCC commissioned Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education to study 860-sqkm of Saranda forest and 529.4sq.km of south Chaibasa forest division and assess carrying capacity for ore production. The study recommended that annual ore production should be capped at 64 million tonnes per annum. This capacity ICFRE said, could be increased to 90 MTPA only after strengthening existing infrastructure and mitigation measures.