Archive · 23 Sep 2026
Fourth Coal Mine Near Tiger Corridor Gets Environmental Clearance Recommendation
An expert panel recommended environmental clearance for a new underground coal mine in Madhya Pradesh.
The mine would be just over 6 kilometres from the Bandhavgarh-Achanakmar tiger corridor.
This corridor helps tigers and other animals move between important forest areas.
The mine’s lease would cover more than 1,400 hectares, including over 960 hectares of forest.
The company, JK Cement Limited, says the underground work would directly disturb about 19 hectares of forest land.
However, the project’s environmental report says underground mining can make the ground sink.
It may also change the land, drain wetlands and harm forest canopies.
The report found 29 specially protected Schedule-I species at the site.
The recommendation is conditional and still requires documents and forest-diversion approvals.
The West of Shahdol (South) Underground Coal Mine in Umaria, Madhya Pradesh, received an environmental-clearance recommendation.
The proposed mine is just over 6 kilometres from the Bandhavgarh-Achanakmar tiger corridor.
Its lease covers more than 1,400 hectares, including over 960 hectares of forest land.
The project would be the fourth nearby coal mine to receive such a recommendation since July.
The project’s EIA identifies 29 Schedule-I species and warns that underground mining could cause land subsidence, wetland drainage and forest-canopy damage.
- Who
- JK Cement Limited is the proposed operator, while the Union environment ministry’s expert appraisal committee recommended the clearance.
- What
- An underground coal-mining project received a recommendation for environmental clearance, subject to conditions and documents.
- When
- The recommendation was made during the expert panel’s September 8-9 meetings; it was the fourth such nearby recommendation since July.
- Where
- The project is in Umaria district, Madhya Pradesh, just over 6 kilometres from the Bandhavgarh-Achanakmar tiger corridor.
- Why
- The project is intended for coal mining, while the recommendation includes safeguards because of nearby forest land, wildlife and potential environmental impacts.
Mining Approval Case
Conservation Concerns
Scale of direct disturbance
Mining Approval Case
The proposed mine is underground, and its documents state that about 19 hectares of forest land would be directly disturbed.
Conservation Concerns
The project’s EIA says underground mining can cause land subsidence, alter surface topography, drain wetlands and damage delicate forest canopies.
Conditions and safeguards
Mining Approval Case
The expert panel recommended clearance only subject to conditions, including stage-I approval for forest-land diversion, compensatory afforestation and required wildlife documents.
Conservation Concerns
The mine is close to a corridor connecting important tiger populations, and the site contains 29 Schedule-I species requiring protection.
Regional mining pressure
Mining Approval Case
Four coal projects near the corridor have received environmental-clearance recommendations since July, supporting continued coal development in a coal-rich landscape.
Conservation Concerns
A National Tiger Conservation Authority and Wildlife Institute of India document said the corridor requires serious ecological and socio-economic attention and faces continuing infrastructure pressure from coal mining.
- Project
- West of Shahdol (South) Underground Coal Mine
- Proposed operator
- JK Cement Limited
- Location
- Umaria district, Madhya Pradesh
- Distance from corridor
- Just over 6 kilometres
- Mining lease area
- More than 1,400 hectares
- Forest land in lease
- More than 960 hectares
- Protected species recorded
- 29 Schedule-I species
- Direct forest disturbance
- About 19 hectares
