The Union coal ministry has said that Coal India Limited’s (CIL) 40 coal blocks in and around the Lemru Elephant Corridor (LEC) will not be auctioned on the request of the Chhattisgarh government.
- Over 40 new coal blocks having about 10% of the reserve of Chhattisgarh have been decided to be kept out of coal mining auction.
- Nine coal mines falling in dense Hasdeo-Arand coalfields have also been kept out for further rounds of auctions of coal blocks.
- One of the coal blocks-Tara is located in the Hasdeo Arand forest area and six other coal blocks are in the catchment area of the Mand river, which flows through the Mand-Raigarh forest area.
- The Mand and Hasdeo rivers are important tributaries of the Mahanadi river, which starts from north Chhattisgarh and flows into Odisha.
