Calcutta High Court seeks response from Bengal government over Deocha Pachami coal project
Hearing a petition by economist and activist Prasenjit Bose, the division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Chaitali Chatterjee directed respondents, including the Government of West Bengal and the WBPDCL, to file affidavits within three weeks, and a reply, if any, within a week thereafter.
WBPDCL, the executing agency, is currently in the process of excavating the 80 metres to 250 metres thick basalt layer over the DPDH coal block in West Bengal's Birbhum. Following West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's announcement at the Bengal Global Business Summit, basalt mining work started at the DPDH coal block on February 6 this year, amidst resistance from local villagers.
In his petition, petitioner Mr Bose alleged that the respondents, including the West Bengal government and the WBPDCL, have 'reneged on their legal and contractual obligations' and have 'pursued a confounding trajectory of basalt mining in an area allotted for a coal block.'
'A government notification concerning the coal project issued in November 2021 describes the entire project in a certain manner. After the Chief Minister's announcement in February this year, officials connected to this project have made several statements about the project plan in the media, which do not tally with the initial notification,' Mr. Bose told The Hindu.
He added that no official notification has been issued as on date, either for the local population at DPDH or the public at large, specifying the current nature of the mining activities or the environmental and other official clearances obtained.
'There is no information on this coal mining project in the public domain. The people are completely in the dark over what is happening at the DPDH area. There has been no public hearing with the residents whose lands are being acquired for this project. While many have agreed to sell their land in exchange for compensation and jobs, a large section of people have not consented,' Mr. Bose said.
'The question is why a power development corporation is undertaking the work to mine basalt after entering into agreements with the Central government on account of the coal deposits. Basalt mining is a separate project, and that work should be in concurrence with the prior agreement,' he added.
During the hearing, Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam cited a past judgment in the Madras High Court in connection with the Salem Highway Project. 'There are a couple of decisions which say whether post-facto environment clearance can be granted or if it should be prior,' he observed during the hearing on Thursday (April 24, 2025).
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