CBI books Hindalco for corruption in green clearance for Talabira coal mining
New Delhi(PTI): The CBI has booked the country's leading aluminium producer Hindalco of the Aditya Birla Group for alleged corruption in getting environmental clearances for coal mining between 2011 and 2013, officials said on Tuesday.
The agency has also named T Chandini, the then director in the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, for favouring the company as member secretary of the Expert Appraisal Committee ((EAC) in allowing mining in the Talabira-I mine in the critically polluted area of Odisha's Jharsuguda in violation of ministry guidelines, they said.
The central probe agency registered an FIR against Hindalco and Chandini under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act after a nearly eight-year-long preliminary inquiry.
Reacting to the FIR, a Hindalco spokesperson said, "This is an old matter pertaining to 2014-15. These mines were de-allocated as part of the government's de-allocation process. This is a matter of public record where more than 100 mines were de-allocated."
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered the preliminary inquiry in 2016 on allegations that the Aditya Birla Management Corporation Private Limited (ABMCPL) had allegedly paid "massive bribes" between 2011 and 2013 to ministry officials for getting mandatory environmental clearance to mine coal from Talabira.
The findings of the inquiry showed that the ministry had made it mandatory in 2006 for a company to seek environment clearances for all new projects, expansion of existing products and any change in the product mix in an existing manufacturing unit.
The projects needing prior environmental clearance were supposed to go through the EAC, consisting of experts from different disciplines. The clearance was given by the regulatory authority based on the EAC's recommendation.
Hindalco received its first environmental clearance in 2001 for mining 0.4 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of coal from the Talabira-I mine. Another clearance was given in January 2009 for its expansion, allowing the increase in mining from 0.4 MTPA to 1.5 MTPA.
Nearly a month after the second clearance, the company sought to double its capacity to 3 MTPA, which was to be considered by the EAC, it said.
It emerged that the company had allegedly violated clearances given in 2001 and 2009 by producing more coal than permitted by the ministry, the FIR said.
The company allegedly mined 3.04 MTPA excess coal from 2004-05 to 2007-08 and 2008-09, it said.
"This fact became known during the process of consideration by the EAC of which T Chandini, director, was the member secretary," the FIR alleged.
The Odisha State Pollution Control Board and the Central Pollution Control Board confirmed during the inquiry that the Talabira mine was in the critically polluted area of Jharsuguda, the CBI alleged.
According to ministry rules, in-pipeline projects in critically polluted areas or those applying after January 13, 2010, were to be returned to the project proponent by member secretaries with the approval of the advisor.
The inquiry showed that Chandini, despite being fully aware that the company was mining excess coal in violation of previous environmental clearances, did not return the project, as stipulated in the ministry circular.
"Rather she acted to the contrary in as much as the proposal of HIL (Hindalco) was continued to be processed which amounted to misuse of her official position to favour HIL," the CBI FIR has alleged.
Chandini, by misusing her official position, communicated to Hindalco that their proposal for grant environmental clearance would be considered in the next meeting of the EAC to be held on February 25 and 25, 2010, the agency alleged.
She allegedly ensured that the clearance was granted in haste, considering the fact that Hindalco was already in violation of earlier clearances granted by the ministry, as it was already mining excess coal from the Talabira-I coal mine, it said.
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Syria says Israeli strikes leave 18 dead in the biggest toll since the war in Gaza began
Masyaf (Syria), Sep 9: The number of people killed in overnight Israeli strikes in Syria has risen to 18 with dozens more wounded, Syria's health minister said on Monday — the largest death toll in such an attack since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
One of the sites targeted was a research centre used in the development of weapons, a war monitor said. Syrian officials said civilian sites were targeted.
Israel regularly targets military sites in Syria linked to Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Those strikes have become more frequent as Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Israeli forces for the past 11 months against the backdrop of Israel's war against Hamas — a Hezbollah ally — in Gaza.
However, the intensity and death toll of Sunday night's strikes were unusual.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations. The strikes often target Syrian forces or Iranian-backed groups.
Israel has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment in Syria, particularly since Syria is a key route for Iran to send weapons to Hezbollah.
Israeli strikes hit several areas in central Syria, damaging a highway in Hama province and sparking fires, Syrian state news agency SANA said.
Speaking to reporters, Syrian Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabbash described the strikes as a “brutal and barbaric aggression”. He said the death toll had risen to 18 with nearly 40 wounded.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said 25 were killed, including at least five civilians, while the others included Syrian army soldiers and members of Hezbollah and other Iran-linked armed groups.
One strike targeted a scientific research centre in Masyaf, and others struck sites where “Iranian militias and experts are stationed to develop weapons in Syria”, the observatory said. It said the research centre was reportedly used for developing weapons, including short- and medium-range precision missiles and drones.
Minister of Electricity Mohammad al-Zamel said the strikes had caused “truly significant” damage to water and electricity infrastructure.
“This brutal attack targeted civilian targets, and the martyrs were mostly civilians, as were the wounded,” he said.
Local media also reported strikes around the coastal city of Tartous, which the observatory said were the result of air defense missiles falling.
On Monday afternoon, a charred car remained at the scene of one strike and smoke was still rising from some spots where fires had been put out.
