NLC India Ltd, a Navratna Public Sector Undertaking, has reclaimed 2600 hectares of land from mined-out area and carried out afforestation on a major part of the land as part of its Green Belt creation initiative, the Ministry of Coal said on Thursday.
Out of the 2600 hectares reclaimed of land from mined-out area and afforestation has been carried out in 2188 hectares. Various types of native trees have been planted in this area. So far, more than 27.96 lakh saplings have been planted in the reclaimed land and high-tech vegetable cultivation is taking place in 100 hectares of land, the Ministry of Coal said in a statement.
"Afforestation and green belt creation projects are being carried out in all mining areas in compliance with the commitment made to the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change in accordance with the mine closure plan," the ministry said.
NLC India Ltd is a Navratna Public Sector Undertaking, under the Ministry of Coal.
Over burden removed from open cast mines is refilled in mined-out areas as part of reclamation of land. This type of soil is unsuitable for cultivation due to the heterogeneous nature, devoid of plant nutrients. Moreover, such type of soil does not have proper texture and structure essential for vegetation growth. NLCL, with dedicated effort, converts such refilled areas into agriculture fields by improving the soil quality to pre-mining level and scientific agriculture methods are used for the same, the ministry said.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor