Ranchi: The Coal Ministry has advised the
Jharkhand government to see if abandoned opencast mines
could be used as water reservoirs in the drought-prone state.
"(Union coal ministry) told us to ponder over whether
we would like to fill-up and go for plantation on abandoned
opencast mines, which has water, or use it as a reservoir,"
Chief Secretary A K Singh said today.
He was replying to a query on the issue of abandoned
mines during his meeting with Additional Secretary of Union
Coal Ministry, Alok Parti here yesterday.
The state's opinion had been that coal companies
should extract till the last piece of coal before abandoning
mines, Singh said, but remained non-committal if the state
would like to use them as reservoirs or plantations after
filling them up.
There are several abandoned opencast mines in
Jharkhand's coal belt, which attract illegal mining and
subsequent mishaps.
All the 24 districts in Jharkhand are reeling under
drought for the last two years following scanty rainfall.
PTI
First Published: Friday, December 03, 2010, 20:32