The district's natural wealth is gradually proving a bane for the city and its nearby areas. A large number of thermal power plants are coming up around the city because as per the government this area is close to mines and has lot of water. If this was not enough, Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) wants to dig up the areas around the city, some of which will soon become suburbs of Nagpur.
WCL has written to Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), which is the planning authority for the Nagpur metro region, to reserve 60,000 hectare for the company as this land is likely to have coal reserves. 129 villages and localities are coming under this area.
Some of these villages - Godhni, Hingna, Wanadongri - have become heavily urbanized while rapid urbanization is taking place in many areas like Gondkhairi, Dahegaon, Jamtha, etc. WCL's coal belt starts from Godhni, which is on the fringes of the city, and passes through Gorewada reserved forest, Gondkhairi, Hingna MIDC, Hingna town, Wanadongri, south-western boundary of Mihan, Jamtha upto Nagpur-Umred narrow gauge railway line.
NIT chairman Pravin Darade told the media on Wednesday said that he would take up the issue at the highest level including ministry of coal. "We can not allow WCL to mine this area. Development of the metro region will become impossible. Moreover, the city's future will be quite bleak," he pointed out.
MK Singh, general manager (PR) of WCL, defended his company's demand. "We have only asked NIT to take no objection certificate (NOC) from us before starting development of any region. If you develop any area which has coal, then it will create major issues 10 to 15 years down the line."
Singh said that WCL did not have much choice as government did not permit coal mining under forests. Replying to a query he said that as per law, ministry of coal could compulsorily acquire an area having coal reserves.
The coal company has already asked NIT to help it in acquiring 535 hectares in Kamptee, Saoner and Umred areas. It has stated in a letter that it needed to acquire these areas urgently as the coal was to be supplied to the power sector, which was in dire need of coal.
BOX 1
NIT will begin the survey of buildings in Besa-Beltarodi area after Diwali. Chairman Pravin Darade said that NIT had received the required data from district collectorate. "We will deploy all engineers for the survey. It will be completed in 15 days."
Darade said that the engineers would first check whether the construction had permission from NIT, district collectorate or gram panchayat. Those not having any permission will be deemed illegal. "We will then check whether the building has been constructed as development control rules (DCR) of Nagpur. If the violations can be compounded, we will do it else action will be taken regarding the illegal portion of the construction."
The chairman appealed to media organizations to flash real estate advertisements making false claims and help prevent duping of customers. "We will take action against the realtors, who have made false claims. We have asked CREDAI to hang boards in sub registrar offices mentioning the documents that should be checked before buying a property.
BOX 2
NIT will charge Rs 5,000 deposit from persons booking its grounds for marriage or other functions. "We will deduct the expenses of cleaning the ground from the deposit amount and then refund it," said superintending engineer Sunil Gujjelwar.
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