The Environment Ministry’s expert appraisal committee (EAC) has recommended environmental clearance for the expansion of the Magadh opencast coal mine in Jharkhand despite 11 pending court cases linked to alleged encroachment of forest land associated with the project.
The mine, located in Chatra and Latehar districts and operated by Central Coalfields Limited, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, sought permission to increase production capacity from 20 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 24 MTPA.
According to the minutes of the EAC meeting held on April 28 and 29, the panel noted the existence of ongoing litigation under forest laws but observed that the forest land involved in the cases fell outside the approved mining lease area.
The project’s mining lease area has been reduced from 1,769 hectares to 1,598.71 hectares. Of the total 628.09 hectares of forest land involved in the project, Stage-II forest clearance has so far been granted for 276.04 hectares, while the remaining 352.05 hectares are yet to receive final approval for diversion.
“The Committee observed that certain court cases pertaining to alleged encroachment of forest land are associated with the project. However, the Committee noted that the forest land involved in such cases falls outside the approved mine lease area of the project,” the EAC minutes stated.
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The committee directed the project proponent to install closely spaced bamboo pillars or fencing to ensure that no mining or allied activity takes place on forest land outside the approved area. It also specified that no activity should be undertaken in the remaining 352.05 hectares until Stage-II forest clearance is obtained.
Of the 11 pending cases, eight are before the Latehar district court while the remaining are being heard in the Chatra district court. The cases, filed between 2019 and 2025 under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 and the Indian Forest (Bihar Amendment) Act, 1989, relate to allegations including clearing of bushes and trees on forest land near railway sidings and use of forest land for mining-linked activities.
During the EAC proceedings, the project proponent argued that the alleged violations stemmed from discrepancies between old cadastral survey records and more recent revisional survey records, along with inadequate demarcation between forest and non-forest land.
The company claimed that certain forest parcels situated between already diverted land appeared indistinguishable from non-forest areas on the ground, resulting in inadvertent extension of allied activities into forest land. It added that all such activities had now been halted.
Environmental experts, however, raised concerns over the decision. Debadityo Sinha of Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy said granting environmental clearances despite pending legal proceedings could weaken safeguards under the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006.
He argued that the trend risked encouraging project proponents to seek approvals after alleged violations had already occurred, creating what he described as a “fait accompli”.
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