Singrauli, the energy consortium and home to tribal communities, forest dwellers and some of the most threatened forests in central India has recently turned over a green leaf. ‘The city is the source of 11% power required for developmental projects across the country. Blessed with abundant coal supply, the district is dotted with coal mines and coal-fired thermal power plants, which together have an installed capacity of about 12,700 MW. The mines produce nearly 83 tonnes of coal per annum (MTPA). However, nonjudicious coal mining practices have endangered the pollution control level of the district. In 2010, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF), Government of India, declared Singrauli a critically polluted area on the basis of the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) of 81.73. Incremental coal mining activities in the region and the rapid development of coalbased thermal power plants resulted in acute air and water pollution, leading to serious health problems among the residents of the locality. A special Committee was formed with district officials, major industrial stakeholders and civil society groups to look into the matter on priority basis. The Committee deduced that the pollution was a direct result of overburdening on coal mining and poor management of hazardous waste by industries... Read More