To my distress, EAC’s minutes rarely refer to river catchments. For example, at its meeting held in July 2023, the EAC considered the environmental appraisal of the Sijimali bauxite mine recently handed over to a private company. The extent of the mine lease in the case of Sijimali is 1549 hectares and it leads to loss of forest cover of 700 hectares in Kalahandi and Rayagada districts in Odisha - EAS Sarma

Visakhapatnam: Massive allotment of river catchment areas to mining projects is endangering the fragile ecology of Eastern Ghats falling in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, according to noted social activist and former IAS officer EAS Sarma.

Urging the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to immediately take appropriate action, he said during the last few years and in the past, the Ministry of Mines and the Odisha government had allotted a large number of mine blocks to mining companies (coal, iron ore, bauxite, limestone etc.) in areas that overlap the catchments of several major rivers that cater to downstream water requirements of agriculture and other activities in both Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. More and more mining blocks continue to be allotted to mining companies, giving rise to large-scale mining activity that has led to a significant loss of forest cover and consequently a progressive reduction in water inflows that feed the rivers that originate from them.

In a representation to Leena Nandan, Secretary, MEFCC, Sarma pointed out that immediate action is required to stop the deteriorating situation and suggested that all future Environment Impact Assessments (EIAs) should have as their primary component an assessment of the impact of the project on river catchments and the biodiversity.

Citing a research paper published by Manoranjan Mishra in the Journal of Environmental Management, he said out of a total forest cover of 7,406 sq km in six districts that primarily overlap with river catchments, the loss of forest cover was as much as 1,307 sq km (18 per cent). The parts of Eastern Ghats that lie in these districts drain water into Indravati, Kolab, Rushikulya, Vamsadhara and Nagavali Rivers. The researcher in the article said "the accumulated long-term results show that mining activities have caused severe changes in the landscape. The increase in mining activity is following the increase in production that began in 2016. When mining activities started to be underground in 2016, the impact rate on the forest within mining areas slowed down."

Sarma pointed out that he had tried to browse through the minutes of the EAC meetings held in MoEFCC to understand how these mining projects are being apprised and whether their impact on river catchments is assessed.

"To my distress, EAC's minutes rarely refer to river catchments. For example, at its meeting held in July 2023, the EAC considered the environmental appraisal of the Sijimali bauxite mine recently handed over to a private company. The extent of the mine lease in the case of Sijimali is 1549 hectares and it leads to loss of forest cover of 700 hectares in Kalahandi and Rayagada districts in Odisha," he stated.

The activist said apart from the project prima facie violating the two protective laws, Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) and Forest Rights Act (FRA) Acts, applicable to a scheduled area in which the mine block is located, the loss of forest land in the two districts will adversely affect water inflows into Vamsadhara and Nagavali rivers which feed vast areas covered under agricultural activity in both Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

Surprisingly, the EAC appears to have totally ignored the obvious fact that the said mining area overlaps a major river catchment, which shows how the MoEFCC is routinely clearing major mining projects without any concern whatsoever for their long-term impact on water inflows into major rivers. "In my view, this is a serious lapse in the way mining projects are cleared by your ministry," he told the MoEFCC.